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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.