Page 90 - SAMENA Trends - November-December 2022

REGULATORY & POLICY UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

Kuwait

Kuwaiti newspapers including The Times, Al-Qabas and Arab this growth. Large-scale 3G to 4G user migration quickly drove
Times are reporting that the Ministry of Communications (MoC) 4G to the maturity stage and spearheaded a true smartphone
and the local division of Nokia have begun work on delayed fiber- revolution. Multimedia sharing, social media, e-commerce and
optic network projects including the replacement of copper lines online gaming powered by 4G laid the foundation for the eventual
with high speed fiber to improve the quality of telephone and 5G roll-out. The Kuwaiti telecom market has traditionally been very
internet services in several areas. The MoC disclosed that the competitive. An HSDPA 7.2 Mbps service was available as early as
most recent work has been completed in the Al-Bida area while 2007, followed by the region’s first nationwide 4G network in 2013.
planning is under way to start modernizing other earmarked areas Meanwhile, Kuwait launched the region’s first commercial 5G
under a two-year contract signed in May. The MoC’s initial GPON service in 2019. Operators have since rolled out the region’s first
fibre network deployed in 2006 was belatedly expanded in 2018; commercial deployment of advanced 5G technologies to enable
Phase II of the GPON project was completed in October 2018, better 5G indoor customer reach and additional 5G capacity to
when the MoC claimed that the infrastructure covered 55% of cater to the unexpected 30% surge in traffic during the pandemic.
Kuwaiti households, while Phase III has since remained in the early Ookla highlighted in their recent report that Kuwait has the region’s
stages. highest 5G network availability at 35%. Kuwait ranks within a list
(December 21, 2022) www.commsupdate.com of top six countries with the fastest 5G worldwide, while “Kuwait
City” ranks as the fastest city in the world. In addition to 5G quality
The quality of internet services in Kuwait has significantly improved of service development, Opensignal shows that 4G internet speed
over the past two years, thanks to 4G and 5G networks. Before reached around 40 Mbps average download speeds and 94.4% 4G
2020, Kuwait’s 4G experience trailed leading 4G telecom markets availability, respectively, in February 2022. Kuwait networks are,
such as Korea & Singapore, with an average download speed of therefore, one of the leading mobile broadbands worldwide, based
40 to 50 Mbps. A massive shift has since occurred, with the 4G on global user experience platforms. Mobile operators’ continuous
user experience speed increasing 2.76 times from 6 Mbps in 2015 4G and 5G network improvement measures have provided
to 16.2 Mbps in 2019, based on independent OpenSignal reports. noticeable capacity improvement in Kuwait’s 4G and 5G Mobile
Mobile broadband dominates internet access in Kuwait due to infrastructure. CITRA’s latest QoS Audit network report shows
low fiber penetration; CITRA’s latest figures show that 84.8% of that 4G/5G Internet services from the three operators improved
Kuwaiti families access the internet through their mobile devices. significantly in 2021.
Mobile broadband penetration now exceeds 100% in Kuwait. (November 30, 2022) teletimesinternational.com
Operators have invested significantly in infrastructure to sustain

Nepal

Nepal Telecom (NT), the country’s largest mobile network operator permit and 60MHz of frequencies in the 2600MHz band the
(MNO) by subscriptions, has begun preliminary testing of 5G following November, NT then encountered further problems with
mobile services from two base transceiver stations in Kathmandu. equipment delivery. The operator now intends to conduct trials in
Confirming the company was preparing to launch the much- all seven provinces of the country by the end of its current financial
delayed trials from its offices in the Sundhara and Babarmahal year (mid-July 2023), as the Nepal Telecommunications Authority
areas of the capital, NT spokesperson Ranjot Lohiya noted services (NTA) has expanded the scope of its initial testing plans. The
would be expanded to another three districts following successful frequencies will be exempt from standard spectrum fees during
conclusion of the pre-testing. The operator had planned to kick the twelve-month trial program on condition that NT’s customers
off 5G trials in mid-July 2021, but the timetable was delayed by a can access the service at no additional charge.
change of government which delayed assignment of the additional (November 16, 2022) www.commsupdate.com
spectrum resources required. Having finally been granted a testing

90 NOVEMBER- DECEMBER 2022