Synopsis
My second trip to Qatar in March 2012 gave me a similar experience to the ones I have when I travelled to China with annual or bi-annual intervals.
Things had changed in a remarkable way. There are new buildings with the most amazing architecture, many of them artwork in their own way, new roads, new infrastructure and more and more people connected to FttH. The neighbouring UAE with its well-known capital, Dubai, is now the second ranked FttH country in the world, with penetration above 50%.
Qatar will have all of its 220,000 homes and business linked to FttH by 2015. Saudi Arabia is also one of the fastest-growing FttH countries in the world. Overall FttH growth in the region stands at 34% per annum. The Arab Spring is seen by many of the governments in the region as a wakeup call for social and economic reforms and governments at the Arab Summit were urged by the Emir of Qatar and others to use ICT to address some of these issues.
