The Arabian Gulf's telecommunications companies lead the Middle East and North Africa's operators on the back of GCC consumers’ spending power, economic diversification and investment into advanced technologies.
The UAE, at the forefront of the region, is the most attractive telecoms market in the Middle East and North Africa region, due to "its strong combination of high rewards and low risks," according to a new Fitch Solutions report. The Arab world's second largest economy, where Etisalat and du are focused on post-paid and company subscribers scored 56.3 out of 100 points, compared with the regional average of 44.2, in a Fitch index.
“The UAE remains the most attractive telecoms market in the MENA region, Fitch said. "In the face of limited organic growth opportunities (and) with the penetration rate reaching very high in the third quarter of 2018, (UAE) operators Etisalat and du are focusing on high value post-paid and enterprise subscriptions while shedding inactive prepaid subscriptions.”
The UAE is followed by Saudi Arabia, biggest Arab economy, which declined by 0.1 point due to a slightly lower country risk score. Bahrain in third place and Oman in sixth have not seen their scores change this quarter.
A high penetration rate and a decline in mobile subscribers led to Kuwait coming in fifth place.
Gulf telcos are focused on digitalisation of the industry and the integration of 5G services - which are poised to include rapid data transfer rate, energy saving, cost reduction and widespread device connectivity through Internet of Things.
Operators in the UAE alone stand to gain an additional $3.3 billion (Dh12.1bn) in revenues by 2026 from the digitalisation of industries, according to Swedish technology company Ericsson - which works with leading telecom operators such as du, Etisalat and Kuwait's Zain Group in the Arabian Gulf region.
Morocco jumped two notches up to seventh place thanks to an improved economic outlook this year. The North African country's mobile market is expected to stay positive in the medium- and long term, as operators remain focused on expanding 4G services and attracting post-paid subscribers.
Iraq, ranked eighth in the index, has witnessed a sustained growth of mobile subscriptions with the restoration of services in the western and northern parts of the country, according to Fitch.
Lebanon, one of the most expensive countries in the world for mobile use, ranked 14th in the index and is "held back by low mobile growth prospects in the near future.”
Syria, Yemen and Libya trail their regional peers at the bottom of the index.