United Arab Emirates - Mobile Market - Overview and Statistics

Synopsis

The UAE boasts penetration levels that are among the world’s highest. The market is served by a duopoly comprised of incumbent Etisalat and relatively new market entrant du. Both operators are locally owned, both with significant government ownership. The two operators have competed fiercely. The UAE is a particularly interesting market as the very high expatriate population at over 80% presents opportunities that might not be present in markets with a less fluid population. Both operators have deployed sophisticated HSPA+ networks although Etisalat has taken the next step and launched LTE services. With mobile voice revenue growth limited by high penetration levels both operators have turned their attention to mobile data services and applications.

Table of Contents

• 1. Synopsis
• 2. Overview of UAE’s mobile market
  • 2.1 Mobile statistics
• 3. Regulatory issues
  • 3.1 Overview
  • 3.2 Mobile number portability
  • 3.3 Roaming tariff reduction
• 4. Mobile technologies
  • 4.1 Analogue and digital
  • 4.2 Third generation mobile
  • 4.3 Long Term Evolution (LTE)
• 5. Major mobile operators
  • 5.1 Etisalat
  • 5.2 Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company/du
• 6. Mobile voice services
  • 6.1 Prepaid
  • 6.2 Satellite mobile
    • 6.2.1 Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Company (Thuraya)
• 7. Mobile messaging
  • 7.1 Short Message Service (SMS) and Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS)
• 8. Mobile broadband
• 9. Mobile content and applications
  • 9.1 Overview
  • 9.2 Mobile TV
  • 9.3 M-commerce
• 10. Related reports

• Table 1 – Mobile subscribers and penetration rate – 1995 - 2012
• Table 2 – Mobile operators, subscribers and annual change – March 2011
• Table 3 - Mobile operators’ market share – 2007 - 2011
• Table 4 – Total mobile revenue and ARPU – 2007 - 2010
• Table 5 - du Mobile subscribers and ARPU – 2010 - 2011
• Table 6 – Prepaid subscribers – 2005 - 2011
• Table 7 – du prepaid subscribers – 2008 - 2011
• Table 8 – Numbers of SMS and MMS sent – 2007 - 2010
• Table 9 – Mobile application usage – 2010