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United Arab Emirates - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Publisher Name :
Date: 11-Oct-2018
No. of pages: 50

Executive summary

UAE mobile operators strive for revenue growth in a saturated market

The UAE has a very strong mobile market and it is closely guarded by the two major operators of Etisalat and du. In 2018 both Etisalat and du are demonstrating keen interest in developing 5G technology and are strongly supported by the TRA which has identified the spectrum bands which will be made available for deployment.

Both operators are majority owned by the government. In 2017 the first two MVNOs began offering services in the UAE – however this has not impacted upon competition in any significant way as both are wholly owned either by du and Etisalat. The operators however are facing challenges with the saturated mobile market stifling voice growth.

Etisalat and du have both deployed sophisticated HSPA+ and LTE networks that cover most of the population, underpinning growth opportunities centred on mobile broadband, content and applications. Smart phones are becoming increasingly popular, accounting for the majority of the mobile handsets. The growing availability of low cost smart phones has driven mobile broadband penetration up sharply in the last couple of years.

The well-established fibre-broadband network in the UAE is providing the operators with opportunities to grow new services and offerings such as triple-play.

Key developments:


  • Recently the TRA was encouraging affordable roaming rates within GCC countries;

  • In 2018 Etisalat sold its 28% share of Thuraya;

  • The UAE has attracted international interest from data centre operators;

  • Licensed VoIP offerings were launched by the operators in 2017;

  • The UAE hopes to commercially launch 5G in 2020.


Companies mentioned in this report include:

Etisalat; du; Thuraya; Yahsat; Virgin Mobile; Swyp

United Arab Emirates - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Table of Contents

1. Executive summary

2. Key statistics

3. Country overview

4. Telecommunications market
4.1 Historical overview
4.2 Market analysis
4.3 Key recent developments

5. Regulatory environment
5.1 Historic overview
5.2 Regulatory authority
5.3 Draft bill for new authority
5.4 Telecom sector liberalisation
5.4.1 Second operator
5.4.2 Third operator
5.4.3 Satellite licence
5.5 Interconnect and access
5.6 Fibre access
5.7 Number Portability (NP)
5.8 Royalty payments
5.9 Censorship
5.10 Roaming tariff reduction

6. Fixed network operators
6.1 Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat)
6.2 Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company/du
6.3 Yahsat

7. Telecommunications infrastructure
7.1 Overview of the national telecom network
7.1.1 Fixed-line statistics
7.2 International infrastructure
7.2.1 Submarine cable networks
7.2.2 Terrestrial cable networks
7.2.3 Satellites
7.3 Data centres, cloud computing
7.4 Smart infrastructure
7.5 Smart grids
7.6 Smart cities
7.6.1 Masdar City
7.7 Connected homes

8. Fixed broadband market
8.1 Introduction and statistical overview
8.1.1 Market analysis
8.1.2 Broadband statistics
8.2 Fibre-to-the-Premises (FttP) and Fibre-To-The-Home (FttH)
8.3 Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) networks
8.4 Other fixed broadband services
8.5 Fixed wireless (WiFi, WiMAX)

9. Digital economy
9.1 e-Health

10. Digital media
10.1 Video-streaming
10.1.1 Media Zones
10.2 VoIP

11. Mobile market
11.1 Market analysis
11.2 Mobile statistics
11.3 Mobile voice
11.3.1 Prepaid
11.4 Mobile data
11.4.1 SMS and MMS
11.4.2 OTT messaging services
11.5 Mobile broadband statistics
11.6 Mobile infrastructure
11.6.1 Brief intro analogue networks
11.6.2 Digital networks
11.7 Major mobile operators
11.7.1 Etisalat
11.7.2 du (Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company)
11.7.3 MVNOs
11.8 Mobile content and applications
11.8.1 M-commerce
11.8.2 M-payments
11.9 Mobile handsets

12. Related reports

List of Tables

Table 1 – Top Level Country Statistics and Telco Authorities – United Arab Emirates – 2018
Table 2 – UAE – GDP and inflation – 2012 - 2018
Table 3 – UAE – telecommunications revenue – 2007 - 2016
Table 4 – Etisalat group revenue and net profit – 2005 – 1H 2018
Table 5 – Etisalat – UAE fixed broadband subscribers – 2010 – 1H 2018
Table 6 – du revenue breakdown and profit/loss – 2008 – 2017
Table 7 – du fixed line subscribers – 2007 - 2017
Table 8 – du fixed line subscriber market share service breakdown – 2014; 2016
Table 9 – UAE – fixed lines in service and teledensity – 1995 - 2018
Table 10 – UAE – domestic and international voice revenue – 2008 - 2015
Table 11 – UAE – international telephone revenues – 2008 - 2015
Table 12 – UAE – monthly fixed-line ARPU and MOU – 2008 - 2015
Table 13 – UAE – internet users and penetration – 1998 - 2018
Table 14 – UAE – fixed broadband subscribers and penetration – 2001 - 2018
Table 15 – UAE – international internet bandwidth – 2006 - 2016
Table 16 – UAE – Subscribers to FttH/FttB – 2015 - 2017
Table 17 – UAE – Operators fibre broadband market share – 2015 - 2017
Table 18 – UAE – DSL subscriptions in decline – 2008 -2018
Table 19 – UAE - Historic - Mobile subscribers and penetration rate - 1995 - 2007
Table 20 – UAE - Mobile subscribers and penetration – 2005 – 2018
Table 21 – UAE – mobile revenue and ARPU – 2008 - 2015
Table 22 – UAE – prepaid vs postpaid revenue – 2008 - 2015
Table 23 – UAE – prepaid subscribers – 2005 – 2018
Table 24 – UAE – SMS and MMS sent – 2007 - 2015
Table 25 – UAE – mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2010 - 2017
Table 26 – UAE is one of the leading countries working towards 5G in the Middle East
Table 27 – UAE – mobile operators’ market share by subscribers – 2010 – 1H 2018
Table 28 – Etisalat (UAE) mobile subscribers and blended ARPU – 2011 – Q2 2018
Table 29 – du mobile revenue – 2009 – 2017
Table 30 – du mobile subscribers – 2010 – 2017
Table 31 – Historical - du mobile minutes of use (MOU) – 2010 - 2014
Table 32 – UAE – handset manufacturers’ market share – 2013; 2015; 2017

List of Charts

Chart 1 – Market share by mobile subscribers – Etisalat and du - 2017

List of Exhibits

Exhibit 1 – UAE – submarine cable networks

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