Oman is ranked 65th in the world in digital wellbeing, according to the fourth annual edition of the Digital Quality of Life (DQL) Index. The study is conducted by the cybersecurity company Surfshark. It evaluated 117 countries based on five fundamental digital wellbeing pillars: Internet quality, e-governance, e-infrastructure, Internet affordability, and e-security.
Out of the five fundamental digital life pillars, Oman’s best score is for e-governance (36th), while the worst score is for e-security (ranking 91st globally).
Oman’s e-infrastructure services come 51st, while Internet quality and Internet affordability rank 74th and 85th, respectively. ‘In the face of waging inflation, fixed broadband Internet has become less affordable worldwide for the second year in a row, prying the global digital divide even further,’ stated the index report.
This year, Oman ranks 18th in Asia and has dropped by ten positions globally since last year’s edition, falling from 55th to 65th.
Oman’s Internet quality, factoring in Internet speed, stability, and growth, ranks 74th in the world and is 13 per cent worse than the global average. Oman’s mobile Internet ranks higher than fixed broadband in the global ranking, operating at 91.3Mbps (22nd globally). Fixed broadband Internet comes 59th (67.8Mbps).
Compared to the UAE, Oman’s mobile Internet as well as broadband is three times slower. Since last year, mobile Internet speed in Oman has improved by 65.9 per cent (36.3Mbps), and fixed broadband speed has increased 17.9 per cent (10.3Mbps). In comparison, Singapore’s residents enjoyed mobile speeds of up to 104Mbps and fixed of as much as 261Mbps – the fastest Internet in the world this year.
Internet in Oman is not affordable compared to global standards. Oman’s Internet affordability ranks 85th in the world. Residents can buy 1GB of mobile Internet in Oman by putting in 11 minutes and 13 seconds of work per month, three times more than in the UAE. Fixed broadband costs Omani citizens around six hours and 32 minutes of their working time each month.
“While countries with a strong digital quality of life tend to be those of advanced economies, our global study found that money doesn’t always buy digital happiness,” said Gabriele Racaityte-Krasauske, head of PR at Surfshark.