A recent Middle East Broadband market survey shows that internet penetration remains low across the region, reports Live PR. The survey also concluded that in comparison to other regions, access speeds are often relatively slow and tariffs are relatively high.

However, the Middle East is making a strong push towards higher broadband penetration. The survey suggests that Arab youth will drive expansion as it grows up with internet accessibility and its use will become the norm. In addition, liberalization and increased competition are bound to produce a greater variety of services and mediums.

While broadband growth has taken off in the small, oil-rich and developed Gulf countries, wide income gaps across the Middle East are echoed by disparities in Internet and broadband penetration rates.

Internet access levels overall are generally low, remarks Report Linker, an IT publication. Qatar, Bahrain and UAE all have high household broadband penetration, particularly among citizens. While on the other hand, the largest country in the region, Saudi Arabia, has a much lower broadband penetration, although it is rising quickly.

One reason cited for such slow internet and broadband growth in Arab countries is a lack of sufficient and compelling content in Arabic. internet use also requires active effort from users, rather than the passive engagement of newspapers.

The youth across the Arab world realize the internet offers new opportunities for political expression and communication, says Nawaat. Across the region, “legions of bloggers” and online activists are testing the limits of free speech in the Middle East, and ordinary people are speaking their minds in chat rooms, forums and online newspaper sites.

However, the impact of the internet remains limited. “While the media scene has changed and once forbidden views are accessible, the greater amount of information has not yet translated into the political process because the formal political institutions have not changed,” observes Rami G. Khouri, editor-at-large of Beirut’s Daily Star.

Indeed, less than a quarter of the Arab world’s population (23.7%) uses the internet, according to internet World Stats, a market research company that compiles online data. Some Arab countries have lower rates of usage, such as Egypt with 15.4% and others are higher, such as Qatar with 52%, compared to 74% of the population in the US and 73% in Israel.

Just as rapidly as internet use is spreading, governments are scrambling to control it. According to OpenNet Initiative, the Middle East “is one of most heavily censored regions in world,” with internet censorship “on the rise” as governments increase “the scope and depth” of their filtering and blocking.

Report Linker adds that too much emphasis has also been put on hardware and the latest “must-have gizmo,” setting aside the importance of creativity to boost the region’s digital content programs. However this is beginning to change thanks to the flourishing satellite TV sector providing a broader variety of content.

“At least 60-70% of homes across the Middle East have access to multi-channel TV, much of it Free-to-Air DTH satellite. Around 70% of the 400+ channels are privately owned,” remarks the news site.

The new role played by digital satellite TV content is bringing forth new resolution to create viable content and funding for the talent that is available in the region, according to AME Info. CEO of Pyramedia, Nashwa Al-Ruwaini, discussed how companies had to operate outside the region in the broader context of improving content of programming in the Arab world.

However, with a burgeoning industry now in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, content creators are increasingly looking and encouraging talents and helping them get the required funding to succeed. Nashwa stated, "Instead of taking Western formats and Arabizing them, we should tailor-make our own formats for the region that appeal to everyone and create content and concepts that are distinctly Arabic.”