Page 83 - SAMENA Trends - July-August 2022

REGIONAL & MEMBERS UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

REGIONAL NEWS

UAE Leads Gulf in 5G Download Speed: Report

UAE has the fastest average 5G download streaming, multiplayer mobile gaming, and video experience, as well as good 5G avail-
speed among countries in the Arabian Gulf, voice app communication. Additionally, it ability despite its size,” the report adds. The
with smartphone users having experienced looked into 5G availability and speed, as UAE tops for 5G games experience with
speeds of 316.8 Mbps according to a report well as the uplift in experience compared a score of 74 on a 100-point scale. While
by UK-based company, Opensignal. Extend- with older 4G services. “5G is continuing to UAE is top for 5G Download Speed its score
ing its lead for fifth generation (5G) peak advance across the GCC. In all six markets, slips behind Kuwait on 5G Video Experience
download speed as well, UAE was ahead users experience much improved speeds with a score of 72.4 on a 100-point scale.
of Qatar with a score of 743 Mbps, 713.4 and video experience using 5G, Opensignal In 5G Voice App Experience, Qatar tops the
Mbps in Qatar and 663.7 Mbps in Kuwait. noted in the report. “While smaller markets rankings with a score of 80.6 on a 100-point
The GCC 5G Experience Benchmark stud- top the rankings for 5G download speed, scale. This measures the experience for
ied smartphone users’ 5G experience when the position of Saudi Arabia is notable: its over-the-top voice services using popular
using the 5G network for mobile video users saw a strong uplift in both speed and mobile voice apps including WhatsApp,
Skype, Facebook Messenger and Facetime.
In 2021, UAE had the fastest network speed
of 959.39 Mbps which placed it at the top
of the global list. In May 2019, Etisalat – the
UAE’s biggest telecoms operator – became
the first service provider in the region to
announce the availability of a 5G network,
supporting smartphones for commercial
use. It was soon followed by the UAE’s sec-
ond-biggest operator du, Saudi Telecom
Company and Bahrain’s Batelco. The Gulf
region will have 62 million 5G mobile sub-
scribers by 2026 and they will account for
nearly 73 per cent of all mobile subscrip-
tions in the region, according to a report by
Swedish company Ericsson.

UAE Tops GCC Countries with Fastest Average 5G Download Speed

The three countries lead the region for 5G
peak download speed as well, with a score
of 743 Mbps in UAE, 713.4 Mbps in Qatar
and 663.7 Mbps in Kuwait. The UAE tops
GCC countries in terms of having the fast-
est average 5G download speed. The study
was carried out by UK mobile analytics
company OpenSignal. OpenSignal studied
the GCC smartphone users’ 5G experience
when using the 5th generation (5G) mobile
network for mobile video streaming, multi-
player mobile gaming and voice app com-
munications. It looked into 5G availability
and speed, as well as the uplift in experi-
ence compared with older 4G services. As
per the findings of the study, the UAE leads
in terms of 5G download speed, with us-

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