UAE introduces fixed network sharing agreementThe United Arab Emirates is one of the most advanced telecoms sector in the Middle East and with a government actively supporting Smart City and Digital Transformation initiatives – the future for the sector continues to look bright. This is assisted by the high rate of fibre penetration in the Emirates, where around 85% of all fixed broadband subscribes utilise FttH/FttP.
A milestone was reached in October 2015 when the TRA announced it had implemented fixed network sharing across the UAE. Both Etisalat and Du are now able to utilise fixed infrastructure and market services across all locations. This signalled the end of six years of negotiations between the TRA and the operators. While the arrangement does not currently include Pay TV it is expected this will become included by the end of 2016.
The UAE possesses a strong mobile market which includes high smart phone penetration. The focus of the operators in recent times has been revenue growth through offering increased service options such as bundling aimed at increasing mobile data usage. Their efforts are succeeding with mobile data now making up over 30% of both Etisalat’s and du’s mobile services revenue in the UAE.
Further opportunities for telecoms in the UAE exist around the growing enterprise sector, underpinned by a high number of SME’s operating in the country. In particular there is a growing need for data centre and managed services, along with M2M solutions and increased mobile broadband offerings.
The UAE government at both federal and emirate level has been proactive in the digital economy and digital media sectors, with programs to encourage computer and internet use. Like other countries in the Middle East, the UAE aims to transition into a ‘knowledge based and highly productive economy’ by 2021.
Generally speaking, e-commerce is growing in the stabilised markets of the Middle East and the UAE’s growing wealth and internet usage have spurred the development of e-commerce, with more and more shoppers being attracted by the value of online purchases, secure payment facilities, the reputation of the website, and the speed of transactions. The United Arab Emirates is also a prime location for the rise of streaming video and video-on-demand services due to its strong mobile and fixed infrastructure and a population which traditionally enjoys TV and entertainment.
Key telecom parameters – 2012; 2015
Sector | 2012 | 2015 |
Subscribers to telecoms services (million): |
Fixed Broadband | .95 | 1.15 |
Fixed-line telephony | 1.97 | 2.12 |
Mobile phone | 13.78 | 18.00 |
(Source: BuddeComm based on ITU)
Key developments:
Government services are actively being transitioned to offer online digital and mobile services, with over 95% of important government services offering m-government solutions.
Smart phone penetration has reached around 70% of all registered handsets.
Du and Etisalat are both demonstrating an interest in developing 5G and have developed various partnerships.
In 2015 du announced it had finished testing on its IoT network which uses nationally deployed sensors to relay data - and paves the way for smarter management of parking, waste and lighting.
Etisalat has over 11 million subscribers in the UAE.
Etisalat began offering a sub brand called FIVE in recent years and this calling card offers lower tariffs, per second billing and competitive rates for international calls.
Du is implementing WiFi UAE which provides free WiFi access in public places to all UAE residents.
Yahsat plans to launch its third satellite, Al Yah 3 by the end of 2016 which will extend its coverage to Brazil and another 16 markets in Africa.Companies covered in this report include:
Etisalat, du, Yahsat, Thuraya, Icflix, Netflix, Starz Play, OSN, eLife.
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1. Key statistics
1.1 Country overview
2. Telecommunications market
2.1 Recent developments
2.2 Historical overview
2.3 Market analysis
3. Regulatory environment
3.1 Historic overview
3.2 Regulatory authority
3.3 Telecom sector liberalisation
3.3.1 Second operator
3.3.2 Third operator
3.3.3 Satellite licence
3.4 Interconnect and access
3.5 Fibre access
3.6 Number Portability (NP)
4. Competition issues
5. Fixed network operators
5.1 Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat)
5.2 Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company/du
5.3 Yahsat
6. Telecommunications infrastructure
6.1 Overview of the national telecom network
6.1.1 Fixed-line statistics
6.2 International infrastructure
6.2.1 Submarine cable networks
6.2.2 Terrestrial cable networks
6.2.3 Satellite networks
6.3 Smart infrastructure
6.3.1 Smart grids
6.3.2 Smart cities
6.3.3 Connected homes
7. Broadband market
7.1 Introduction and statistical overview
7.1.1 Market analysis
7.2 Broadband statistics
7.2.1 Broadband forecasts
7.3 Fibre-to-the-Premises (FttP) and Fibre-To-The-Home (FttH)
7.4 Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) networks
7.4.1 Other fixed broadband services
8. Digital media
8.1 Introduction
8.2 Videostreaming
8.2.1 Media Zones
8.3 Social media
8.4 Communications: VoIP
8.4.1 Major players
9. Digital economy
9.1 e-Commerce
9.2 e-Government
9.3 e-Health
9.4 e-Education
10. Mobile communications
10.1 Market analysis
10.2 Mobile statistics
10.2.1 General statistics
10.2.2 Mobile voice
10.2.3 Mobile data
10.2.4 Mobile broadband statistics
10.3 Regulatory issues
10.3.1 Roaming tariff reduction
10.3.2 MNP
10.4 Mobile infrastructure
10.4.1 Brief intro analogue networks
10.4.2 Digital networks
10.4.3 IoT and M2M networks
10.5 Major mobile operators
10.5.1 Etisalat
10.5.2 du (Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company)
10.6 Mobile content and applications
10.6.1 Etisalat
10.6.2 du
10.6.3 m-commerce
10.6.4 m-banking (payments/loans)
10.6.5 m-TV
10.7 Mobile handsets
Table 1 – United Arab Emirates - country statistics – 2015
Table 2 – Telephone network statistics – 2015
Table 3 – Broadband statistics – 2015
Table 4 – Mobile statistics – 2015
Table 5 – National telecommunications authorities
Table 6 – UAE – GDP and inflation – 2005 - 2020
Table 7 – UAE – telecommunications revenue by sector – 2007 - 2014
Table 8 – Etisalat group revenue and net profit – 2005 - 2014
Table 9 – Etisalat fixed subscribers and ARPU – 2010 - 2014
Table 10 – du revenue breakdown and profit/loss – 2006 – Q3 2015
Table 11 – du fixed line subscribers – 2007 - 2014
Table 12 – du fixed line subscribers’ breakdown – September 2014
Table 13 – UAE – fixed lines in service and teledensity – 1995 - 2015
Table 14 – UAE – domestic and international voice revenue – 2008 - 2014
Table 15 – UAE – international outgoing traffic – 2008 - 2014
Table 16 – UAE – international telephone revenues – 2008 - 2014
Table 17 – UAE – monthly fixed-line ARPU and MOU – 2008 - 2014
Table 18 – UAE – annual fixed-line voice minutes (breakdown and total) – 2007 - 2014
Table 19 – UAE – internet users and penetration – 1995 - 2016
Table 20 – UAE – fixed broadband subscribers and penetration – 2001 - 2016
Table 21 – Etisalat fixed broadband subscribers – 2010 - 2014
Table 22 – UAE – international internet bandwidth – 2005 - 2014
Table 23 – Forecast broadband subscribers – higher growth scenario – 2016, 2020; 2025
Table 24 – Forecast broadband subscribers – lower growth scenario – 2016, 2020; 2025
Table 25 - Facebook Stats for Middle East as at July 2015
Table 26 – Historic - Mobile subscribers and penetration rate - 1995 - 2004
Table 27 – Mobile subscribers and penetration – 2005 - 2016
Table 28 – UAE – mobile operators’ market share – 2010 - 2014
Table 29 – UAE – mobile revenue and ARPU – 2008 - 2014
Table 30 – UAE – prepaid vs postpaid revenue – 2008 - 2014
Table 31 – UAE – prepaid subscribers – 2005 - 2015
Table 32 – UAE – SMS and MMS sent – 2007 - 2014
Table 33 – UAE – mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2010 - 2015
Table 34 – Etisalat mobile subscribers and ARPU – 2011 - 2014
Table 35 – du mobile revenue – 2009 – Q3 2015
Table 36 – du mobile subscribers and ARPU – 2010 – Q3 2015
Table 37 – du mobile minutes of use (MOU) – 2010 - 2014
Table 38 – UAE – handset manufacturers’ market share – 2013-2015
Chart 1 – UAE – telecommunications revenue by sector – 2007 - 2014
Chart 2 – UAE – fixed broadband subscribers and annual growth rate – 2002 - 2016
Exhibit 1 – UAE – submarine cable networks
