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Kuwait Telecommunications Report Q1 2010Published by: Business Monitor International Published: Jan. 18, 2010 - 81 Pages Table of Contents
AbstractBMI’s Q1 2010 update on Kuwait’s telecommunications market contains newly revised and extended forecasts for the country’s fixed-line, broadband and mobile telephony markets. Our forecasts, which extend to the end of 2014, incorporate data published by the country’s second-leading mobile operators, Zain and Wataniya, which show how they performed in the first nine months of 2009. Solid customer growth continued in the third quarter 2009, although the rate of growth was slightly lower than in Q109 and Q209. Both Zain and Wataniya reported strong customer growth in the three months to September 30 2009. However, while Wataniya continued to witness the steady expansion of its prepaid customer base, Zain reported the loss of 24,000 prepaid customers in the third quarter. It is likely that many of Zain’s lost prepaid customers in Q309 were lost to one of the two rival operators.As in the first two quarters of 2009, Kuwaiti mobile customer growth in Q309 was largely driven by the continued expansion of the country’s third mobile operator Viva. Backed by Saudi Telecom, Viva was thought to have a 13% share of the mobile market at the end of September 2009. This would give it a customer base of around 488,000. According to the most recent reports, Viva’s goal is to reach a 20% market share by the end of 2010. In October 2009, local media reports suggested that Kuwait’s authorities had taken the first step towards setting up an independent telecoms regulator. Kuwait is the only Gulf Arab state without an independent authority to supervise the telecoms sector. The country’s Ministry of Communications (MoC) reportedly expressed plans to set up a committee to regulate the telecoms sector as a first step towards the eventual establishment of a sector watchdog. Other events in the Kuwaiti telecoms sector that have implications for the development of the market going forward include the news in November 2009 that Indian state-owned telecoms firm Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) had withdrawn from talks to join a consortium looking to buy a 46% stake in Kuwait’s Zain Group. Talks with India's Vavasi Group and Malaysia's Al-Bukhary reportedly fell through on the question of valuations. Consortium leader Vavasi has since revealed that the group will still invite the Indian telecoms companies to partake in the due diligence process. This quarter sees the introduction of a new set of a new set of Business Environment Rankings for the Middle East. Following our decision to reclassify Turkey as an emerging Europe market, Turkey is no longer covered by our Business Environment Rankings for the Middle East. We have also added several North African countries to our Business Environment Rankings for the Middle East to form a combined Middle East and North Africa (MENA) table. Kuwait’s overall score and position remain unchanged in our newly expanded set of business ratings. The country continues to sit in sixth position, above Jordan but behind other Gulf states such as Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and Saudi Arabia. Get Full Details About This Report >> |
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