Kuwait Telecoms Market Report

Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Last updated: 28 Jun 2025 Update History

Report Status: Current

Report Pages: 131

Analyst: Henry Lancaster

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Summary
Table Of Contents

Kuwait strengthens resilience in telecom infrastructure in response to regional conflicts

Kuwait’s telecom infrastructure is well developed, with a focus on mobile infrastructure and services. The telecoms sector is important to the country’s economy, and this will become more pronounced in coming years as the economy is purposefully transitioned away from a dependence on oil and gas to one which is increasingly knowledge-based and focussed on ICT and related services. developments in e-commerce have progressed in line with the steady digital transformation of the economy as a whole.

The MNOs have focussed investment on 5G networks, which support and promote the growth of data traffic. This in turn has been a catalyst for revenue growth in recent quarters.

While Kuwait’s mobile sector shows considerable progress; the country’s fixed broadband penetration is the lowest in the region. However, the government has stepped up efforts to build up fixed broadband networks, and ultimately this sector offers a potential future growth opportunity. Improvements to the fixed broadband infrastructure will help develop sectors such as e-commerce, along with smart infrastructure developments, and tech start-ups.

Key developments:

Telecom regulator introduces new organisational structure.
stc Kuwait trials 5G-A using 6GHz spectrum and achieves data rates of up to 10Gb/s.
Regulator and government progress with the Kuwait Vision 2035 program.
Government responds to regional conflict by declaring its intention to strengthen Kuwait’s resilience in telecom infrastructure.
IHS Towers sells its 70% interest in IHS Kuwait to Zain Group.
New cable route to Europe is opened passing through Iraq.
Regulator announced new licence terms for ISPs.
Ooredoo secures landing point contract for the FIG cable.
Report update includes the regulator's market data updates, telcos' financial and operating data to Q1 2025, updated Telecom Maturity Index charts and analyses, recent market developments.

Companies covered in this report include:

Mobile Telecommunications Co (MTC) / Zain, Ooredoo Kuwait, stc (Formerly Kuwait Telecom Company (KTC) / Viva).

Key statistics
Regional Middle East Market Comparison

Market characteristics
Market Leaders
Market Challengers
Market Emergents
TMI versus GDP
Mobile and mobile broadband penetration
Fixed and mobile broadband penetration

Country overview
Telecommunications market

Market analysis
Competitive environment
Kuwait Vision 2035 program

Regulatory environment

Historic overview
Regulatory authority
Fixed-line developments

Privatisation
Infrastructure sharing
Interconnect

Mobile network developments

Third mobile operator
Mobile Number Portability (MNP)
Roaming
Spectrum refarming
Mobile tower management

Mobile market

Market analysis
Mobile statistics
Mobile infrastructure

5G
4G (LTE)
GSM, 3G
Other infrastructure developments
Mobile broadband

Major mobile operators

Zain Kuwait
Ooredoo Kuwait
stc Kuwait
MVNOs

Mobile content and applications

m-banking (payments/loans)

Fixed-broadband market

Introduction
Broadband statistics

Fixed network operators

Ministry of Communications

Telecommunications infrastructure

Overview of the national telecom network
National networks
International infrastructure

Terrestrial
Submarine cable networks
Satellite communication

Smart infrastructure

Smart grids
Smart cities

e-Commerce
Start-ups
e-Banking/e-Payments
e-Health

Appendix – historic data
Glossary of abbreviations
Related reports

List of Tables

Table 1 – Top Level Country Statistics and Telco Authorities – Kuwait – 2025 (e)
Table 2 – Kuwait - GDP real growth rate and inflation – 2012 – 2025
Table 3 – Change in the number of mobile number portings – 2015 – 2023
Table 4 – Development of telecom sector revenue (KWD million) – 2017 – 2019
Table 5 – Development of telecom sector investment – 2017 – 2019
Table 6 – Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Table 7 – Change in the number of prepaid and postpaid mobile subscribers (million) – 2015 – 2023
Table 8 – Change in the market share of mobile subscribers by operator – 2022 – 2025
Table 9 – Development of mobile voice and SMS traffic – 2015 – 2019
Table 10 – Change in the population coverage of mobile technologies – 2016 – 2020
Table 11 – Change in the number of M2M connections – 2015 – 2023
Table 12 – Growth in the number of active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2013 – 2027
Table 13 – Development of Zain Group’s financial data ($ million) – 2012 – 2025
Table 14 – Change in the number of Zain Group’s mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2025
Table 15 – Development of Zain Kuwait’s financial data ($ million) – 2012 – 2025
Table 16 – Change in the number of Zain Kuwait’s mobile subscribers (million) – 2012 – 2025
Table 17 – Development of Zain Kuwait’s mobile ARPU – 2012 – 2025
Table 18 – Increase in the number of Zain Kuwait’s mobile base stations – 2014 – 2020
Table 19 – Development of Ooredoo Kuwait’s financial data (QAR million) – 2012 – 2025
Table 20 – Change in the number of Ooredoo Kuwait’s mobile subscribers (million) – 2012– 2025
Table 21 – Development of Ooredoo Kuwait’s mobile ARPU (QAR/user/month) – 2012 – 2025
Table 22 – Development of stc Kuwait’s financial data (KWD million) – 2012 – 2025
Table 23 – Development of stc Kuwait’s financial data (SAR million) – 2012 – 2025
Table 24 – Change in the number of stc Kuwait’s mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2025
Table 25 – Increase in the number of fixed broadband subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Table 26 – Change in the number of fixed broadband connections by platform (thousand) – 2015 – 2019
Table 27 – Change in the number of fixed broadband connections by access speed – 2015 – 2020
Table 28 – Change in the number of fixed lines in service and teledensity – 2012 – 2027
Table 29 – Increase in international internet bandwidth – 2012 – 2023
Table 30 – Historic - Kuwait - fixed lines in service and teledensity – 1995 – 2011
Table 31 – Historic - Kuwait - mobile subscribers and penetration rate – 1995 – 2011
Table 32 – Historic - Kuwait - Internet users and penetration – 1995 – 2011
Table 33 – Historic - Kuwait - fixed broadband subscribers and penetration – 2006 – 2011
Table 34 – Historic - Zain Kuwait revenue, net profit, ARPU and subscribers (USD million) – 2005 – 2011
Table 35 – Historic - Kuwait - mobile operators’ market share – 2005 – 2011
Table 36 – Historic - Development of Zain Group’s financial data ($ million) – 2009 – 2011
Table 37 – Historic - Change in the number of Zain Group’s subscribers – 2009 – 2011
Table 38 – Historic - Development of Ooredoo Kuwait’s financial data (QAR million) – 2009 – 2011
Table 39 – Historic - Change in the number of Ooredoo Kuwait’s mobile subscribers (million) – 2009 – 2011
Table 40 – Historic - Development of Ooredoo Kuwait’s mobile ARPU (QAR/user/month) – 2009 – 2011
Table 41 – Historic - Change in the number of stc Kuwait’s mobile subscribers – 2009 – 2011
Table 42 – Historic - Increase in international internet bandwidth – 2009 – 2011

List of Charts

Chart 1 – Map of Telecom Maturity Index global ranking among countries in the Middle East
Chart 2 – Middle East – Telecoms Maturity Index global ranking
Chart 3 – Middle East – Telecoms Maturity Index by country
Chart 4 – Middle East - Telecoms Maturity Index vs GDP per capita
Chart 5 – Middle East – Mobile subscriber versus mobile broadband penetration
Chart 6 – Middle East – Fixed broadband penetration versus mobile broadband penetration
Chart 7 – Change in the number of mobile number portings – 2015 – 2023
Chart 8 – Development of telecom sector revenue – 2017 – 2019
Chart 9 – Development of telecom sector Investment – 2017 – 2019
Chart 10 – Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Chart 11 – Change in the number of prepaid and postpaid mobile subscribers – 2015 – 2023
Chart 12 – Change in the market share of mobile subscribers by operator – 2022 – 2025
Chart 13 – Development of mobile voice and SMS traffic – 2015 – 2019
Chart 14 – Change in the number of M2M connections – 2015 – 2023
Chart 15 – Growth in the number of active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2013 – 2027
Chart 16 – Development of Zain Group’s financial data – 2015 – 2025
Chart 17 – Change in the number of Zain Group’s mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2025
Chart 18 – Development of Zain Kuwait’s financial data – 2012 – 2025
Chart 19 – Change in the number of Zain Kuwait’s mobile subscribers – 2015 – 2025
Chart 20 – Development of Zain Kuwait’s mobile ARPU – 2012 – 2025
Chart 21 – Development of Ooredoo Kuwait’s financial data – 2015 – 2025
Chart 22 – Change in the number of Ooredoo Kuwait’s mobile subscribers – 2015– 2025
Chart 23 – Development of Ooredoo Kuwait’s mobile ARPU – 2015 – 2025
Chart 24 – Development of stc Kuwait’s financial data – 2015 – 2025
Chart 25 – Change in the number of stc Kuwait’s mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2025
Chart 26 – Increase in the number of fixed broadband subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Chart 27 – Kuwait - subscribers by broadband technologies – 2015 – 2019
Chart 28 – Change in the number of fixed broadband connections by access speed – 2015 – 2020
Chart 29 – Change in the number of fixed lines in service and teledensity – 2012 – 2027
Chart 30 – Increase in international internet bandwidth – 2012 – 2023

List of Exhibits

Exhibit 1 – Generalised Market Characteristics by Market Segment
Exhibit 5 – Spectrum concessions by licensee – 2021
Exhibit 6 – 2Africa landing stations

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Kuwait Telecoms Market Report

Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Purchase this Report

Kuwait strengthens resilience in telecom infrastructure in response to regional conflicts

Key developments:

Companies covered in this report include:

Key statistics

Regional Middle East Market Comparison

Country overview

Telecommunications market

Regulatory environment

Mobile market

Fixed-broadband market

Fixed network operators

Telecommunications infrastructure

Appendix – historic data

Glossary of abbreviations

Related reports

Purchase this Report

Share this Report

TMT Intelligence

A platform to scale your intelligence tasks

Research Methodology

Hot Topics

News & Views