The number of subscribers to the mobile telecom services reached some 53 million by the end of 2015, the same figure of the previous year, according to a report released by the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC).
Pre-paid subscribers exceeded 84 percent of the total subscriber base, the report said.
Meanwhile, the penetration rate of mobile telecom services at the level of population dropped by nearly 163.5 percent compared to the increase of population and fixed number of subscribers, the report said.
The CITC's issuing license to default operation of mobile phone network has contributed to the improvement in services, expansion of telecom market and provision of more options to subscribers, the report said.
The number of phone lines reached nearly 3.8 million lines, of which 2 million were allocated for residential sector, or 52 percent of the total lines, and 1.8 million for commercial lines.
The penetration rate of fixed phone lines stood at 34 percent compared to the residential units whereas the penetration rate of fixed phone lines compared to population stood at nearly 12 percent, the report said.
However, the number of subscription to fixed telecom lines dropped during the last three years due to competition from mobile telecom services which led to the cancelation of many fixed phone lines by subscribers to be replaced by mobile telecom services, the report said.