Amman - Investment in Jordan's telecommunication sector reached 1 billion dinars (1.4 billion dollars) over the past seven years, Telecommunications Regulatory Commission head Ahmad Hiyasat said Thursday.

A number of new laws and regulations had helped boost competitiveness in Jordan's telecommunications sector, he told a foreign investment conference in Amman.

The government had also withdrawn from the sector and opened it to foreign investors - the first Arab country to do so, Hiyasat said.

The number of internet users in Jordan rose by 30 per cent to 1.2 million in 2007, while the number of mobile phone subscribers grew by 83 per cent to 4.8 million. dpa