Previous Page  XX / 3 Next Page
Information
Show Menu
Previous Page XX / 3 Next Page
Page Background

2.1

million

fixed line subscriptions

TRA report reviews ICT sector development in the UAE

The UAE Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) published its 6th Annual

Telecommunications Sector Review, which summarizes the state of fixed, mobile and

Internet services in the UAE, in terms of number of subscribers, rate of penetration,

revenues and usage during the period from 2011 to 2014.

2015

سبتمبر

Report

The results set out in the report clearly illus-

trate that the sector is continuing to thrive,

particularly during 2014.

The report said that the UAE had over 2.1

million fixed line subscriptions. The number

of active mobile subscriptions continued

to grow, reaching over 16.8 million by the

end of the year with a penetration rate of

199.3%. This represents one of the highest

mobile penetration rates in the world.

The volume of call minutes from mobile

phones increased by 9.6%. Revenues gen-

erated from mobile services increased by

14.9% in 2014.

The report further showed that on average,

9.1 thousand subscribers per month have

switched between the two mobile operators

(Etisalat & du) making use of the Mobile

Number Portability (MNP) service.

The destination with the most outgoing in-

ternational calls from the UAE was Paki-

stan, with over 2.4 billion minutes;

international calls to Pakistan, India, and

Bangladesh represented 77% of total out-

going international calls in 2014.

The total number of Internet service sub-

scriptions increased by 4.6%, reaching over

1.090 million;

subscriptions in triple play package sub-

scriptions (broadband Internet, fixed line,

TV services) increased by 46%, while

subscriptions in fiber Internet services in-

creased by 14.7%.

The percentage of Internet subscriptions

connected by fiber technology increased

to 88% as customers migrated from copper

networks to new advanced networks.

The report indicated that the UAE improved

its international ranking in each of the three

key performance indices monitored by the

TRA: Network Readiness Index; ICT Devel-

opment Index, and Global Competitiveness

Index.

The report further revealed a significant in-

terest by clients to subscribe to high-speed

Internet services. For example, in 2011,

more than one third of the population sub-

scribed to Internet speeds of 512 kilobits/

second, but by the end of 2014, the number

of subscribers decreased by 8%.

Majed Sultan Al Mesmar, TRA Deputy Di-

rector General, said that the report high-

lights the ongoing developments in the ICT

sector in the UAE. The many positive results

revealed by the report stand as testimony to

a farsighted strategic vision and huge op-

erational expertise for both Etisalat and du,

as well as the continuous efforts exerted by

TRA to control and regulate the ICT sector.

Al Mesmar said that the results are inter-

esting and indicate excellent performance

by Internet services, as subscribers today

benefit from high-speed Internet and ad-

vanced networks that operators invested

much money and time to develop over the

past few years.