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

Publication Date: December 2023

Report Pages: 144

Analyst: Sebastien De Rosbo

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Summary
Table Of Contents

UAE’s telcos pressed to replace Huawei as 5G network vendor

The UAE has a strong mobile market, dominated by Etisalat and du. Both are majority-owned by the government. In a bid to attract additional foreign investment, it was resolved in early 2021 that the stake held by foreigners in the two companies could be increased.

Etisalat and du have deployed LTE networks providing national coverage, while the 5G penetration rate is the second highest globally after China. This has underpinned growth in the mobile broadband sector, and has enabled the strong development in the take-up of rich content and applications, as well as m-commerce. To help increase the capacity of 5G networks in coming years, and so keep up with data demand, the government has allowed for the GSM networks to be closed down and for spectrum and other assets to be re-purposed for 5G by the end of 2022.

The fixed-broadband network in the UAE is dominated by fibre, with DSL having a minor and declining presence. This focus on a fully fibred infrastructure has also facilitated growth in e-commerce, and has supported the government’s long-term aim of transitioning the economy from its dependence on oil to being knowledge-based and supported by digital services.

The country stands to benefit from having signed the Abraham Accord Declaration with Israel, which aims to normalise relations between the two countries. Such benefits can be seen in the agreement to enable local ISPs to access Bezeq International’s submarine cable infrastructure, and so improve direct connectivity to Europe, South East Asia, and Africa. The UAE’s ISPs can also access Bezeq International’s data centre in Tel Aviv, improving internet services.

Key developments:

Regulator confirms plans to close down GSM networks by the end of 2022 and refarm spectrum for 5G;
UAE’s telcos increase foreign ownership limit to 49%;
UAE enjoying one of the fastest median 5G download speeds globally;
Amazon Web Services to open data centres in the UAE in the first half of 2022;
Telecom regulator encourages affordable roaming rates within GCC countries;
Report update includes the regulator’s market data to March 2021, telcos’ financial and operating data to Q4 2021, updated Telecom Maturity Index charts and analyses, assessment of the global impact of the pandemic on the telecoms sector, recent market developments.

Companies mentioned in this report include:

Etisalat, du, Thuraya, Yahsat, Virgin Mobile, Swyp

Key statistics
Country overview
Covid-19 and its impact on the telecom sector

Economic considerations and responses
Subscribers
Infrastructure

Telecommunications market

Historical overview
Market analysis
Abraham Accords Peace Agreement

Regulatory environment

Historic overview
Regulatory authority
Royalty payments
Censorship
VoIP
Fixed line developments

Telecom sector liberalisation
Interconnect and access
Fibre access

Mobile market developments

Mobile Number Portability (MNP)
Roaming tariff reduction
SIM card registration

Mobile market

Market analysis
Mobile statistics
Mobile infrastructure

5G
LTE
GSM, 3G

Mobile broadband
Major mobile operators

Etisalat
du (Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company)
MVNOs

Mobile content and applications

M-commerce
M-payments

Fixed broadband market

Introduction and statistical overview

Market analysis
Broadband statistics

Fibre-to-the-Premises (FttP) networks
Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) networks
Other fixed broadband services

Fixed wireless (Wi-Fi, WiMAX)

Fixed network operators

Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat)
Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company/du
Yahsat

Telecommunications infrastructure

Overview of the national telecom network
International infrastructure

Submarine cable networks
Terrestrial cable networks
Satellites

Smart infrastructure

Smart cities
Connected homes
Data centres, cloud computing
Smart grids

Appendix – Historic Data
Glossary of abbreviations
Related reports

List of Tables

Table 1 – Top Level Country Statistics and Telco Authorities – United Arab Emirates – 2021 (e)
Table 2 – GDP and inflation in the UAE – 2012 – 2022
Table 3 – Change in UAE’s telecom revenue by service (AED billion) – 2012 – 2019
Table 4 – Growth in the number of mobile number portings – 2014 – 2019
Table 5 – Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Table 6 – Change in the number and proportion of prepaid mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2021
Table 7 – Growth in the number of mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Table 8 – Change in the market share of mobile subscribers by operator – 2012 – 2021
Table 9 – Etisalat (UAE) mobile revenue and blended ARPU – 2016 – 2021
Table 10 – Change in the number of Etisalat’s domestic mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2021
Table 11 – Change in the number of Etisalat’s domestic mobile subscribers by type (million) – 2012 – 2021
Table 12 – Development of du’s mobile revenue – 2012 – 2021
Table 13 – Change in the number of du’s mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2021
Table 14 – du mobile subscribers by type (million) – 2020 – 2021
Table 15 – Development of du’s mobile ARPU – 2012 – 2021
Table 16 – Internet penetration in the UAE – 2012 – 2020
Table 17 – Growth in the number of fixed broadband subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Table 18 – Growth in international internet bandwidth – 2012 – 2020
Table 19 – Growth in the number of fibre broadband subscribers – 2012 – 2021
Table 20 – UAE - Fibre broadband market share by operator – 2015 – 2018
Table 21 – Decline in the number of DSL subscriptions – 2012 – 2021
Table 22 – Increase in the number of Etisalat’s fixed broadband subscribers – 2012 – 2021
Table 23 – Change in the number of Etisalat’s bundle subscribers by type – 2016 – 2021
Table 24 – Etisalat group revenue and net profit (AED billion) – 2012 – 2021
Table 25 – Development of Etisalat’s domestic financial data (AED billion) – 2012 – 2021
Table 26 – Decline in the number of Etisalat’s fixed line subscribers – 2018 – 2021
Table 27 – Development of du’s revenue by sector (AED billion) – 2012 – 2021
Table 28 – Development of du’s financial data (AED billion) – 2012 – 2021
Table 29 – Growth in the number of fixed lines in service and teledensity – 2012 – 2027
Table 30 – Historic - UAE - fixed lines in service and teledensity – 1995 – 2011
Table 31 – Historic - UAE - internet users and penetration – 1998 – 2011
Table 32 – Historic - UAE - fixed broadband subscribers and penetration – 2001 – 2011
Table 33 – Historic - UAE - domestic and international voice revenue (AED billion) – 2008 – 2015
Table 34 – Historic - UAE - international telephone revenues (AED million) – 2008 – 2015
Table 35 – Historic - UAE - monthly fixed-line ARPU and MOU – 2007 – 2015
Table 36 – Historic - UAE - mobile revenue and ARPU – 2008 – 2015
Table 37 – Historic - UAE - mobile subscribers and penetration rate - 1995 - 2011
Table 38 – Historic - UAE - prepaid vs postpaid revenue (AED billion) – 2008 – 2015
Table 39 – Historic - UAE - prepaid subscribers – 2005 – 2011
Table 40 – Historic - UAE - SMS and MMS sent (million messages) – 2007 – 2015
Table 41 – Historic - Etisalat group revenue and net profit (AED billion) – 2005 – 2011
Table 42 – Historic - du mobile minutes of use (MOU) – 2010 – 2014
Table 43 – Historic - du mobile revenue – 2008 – 2011
Table 44 – Historic - Decline in the number of DSL subscriptions – 2008 – 2011
Table 45 – Historic - Development of du’s revenue by sector (AED billion) – 2008 – 2011
Table 46 – Historic - Etisalat group revenue and net profit (AED billion) – 2009 – 2011
Table 47 – Historic - Change in UAE’s telecom revenue by service (AED billion) – 2008 – 2011

List of Charts

Chart 7 – Change in UAE’s telecom revenue by service – 2012 – 2019
Chart 8 – Growth in the number of mobile number portings – 2014 – 2019
Chart 9 – Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Chart 10 – Change in the number and proportion of prepaid mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2021
Chart 11 – Growth in the number of mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Chart 12 – Change in the market share of mobile subscribers by operator – 2012 – 2021
Chart 13 – Change in the number of Etisalat’s domestic mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2021
Chart 14 – Change in the number of Etisalat’s domestic mobile subscribers by type – 2012 – 2021
Chart 15 – Development of du’s mobile revenue – 2012 – 2021
Chart 16 – Change in the number of du’s mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2021
Chart 17 – Development of du’s mobile ARPU – 2012 – 2021
Chart 18 – Growth in the number of fixed broadband subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Chart 19 – Growth in the number of fibre broadband subscribers – 2012 – 2021
Chart 20 – Decline in the number of DSL subscriptions – 2012 – 2021
Chart 21 – Increase in the number of Etisalat’s fixed broadband subscribers – 2012 – 2021
Chart 22 – Change in the number of Etisalat’s bundle subscribers by type – 2016 – 2021
Chart 23 – Etisalat group revenue and net profit – 2012 – 2021
Chart 24 – Development of Etisalat’s domestic financial data – 2012 – 2021
Chart 25 – Decline in the number of Etisalat’s fixed line subscribers – 2018 – 2021
Chart 26 – Development of du’s revenue by sector – 2012 – 2021
Chart 27 – Development of du’s financial data – 2012 – 2021
Chart 28 – Growth in the number of fixed lines in service and teledensity – 2012 – 2027

List of Exhibits

Exhibit 5 – UAE – submarine cable networks

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

Purchase this Report

UAE’s telcos pressed to replace Huawei as 5G network vendor

Key developments:

Companies mentioned in this report include:

Key statistics

Country overview

Covid-19 and its impact on the telecom sector

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