Saudi Arabia - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband
Saudi Arabia is seeing a shift from ADSL to FTTH
Saudi Arabia's ICT market is the biggest in the Middle East in terms of capital value and volume of spending. The future is promising, with both government and businesses keen on keeping up to date with the latest telecom developments. Smart technologies, in particular, offer interesting opportunities for investors.
The mobile market in Saudi Arabia is fiercely competitive. Reported penetration rates are upward of 180%, but mobile indicators tend to fluctuate due to the country's fluid population with large numbers of pilgrims and expatriate workers. Services are provided by three Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) STC, Mobily, and Zain and by two Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) Virgin Mobile and Lebara. Saudi Arabia is the second country in the gulf region (after Oman) to have allowed MVNOs, but other countries are likely to follow suit, as Saudi Arabia is generally considered the region's trendsetter.
The fixed broadband market is experiencing a major technology shift from ADSL to fibre, with STC expanding FTTH coverage to most urban centres, and another two companies Go Telecom and Mobily also offering FTTH services.
Mobile broadband subscriptions outnumber fixed broadband subscriptions by a long way in Saudi Arabia, which reflects the country's large household size. While fixed broadband normally serves the home, mobile broadband subscriptions are individual. Therefore, mobile broadband subscriptions are likely to continue growing beyond the 100% per capita penetration threshold due to some users having more than one mobile connected device (for example, a smartphone plus a tablet), but fixed-line broadband will hit market saturation when household penetration reaches 100% which is not far away for Saudi Arabia.
Key telecom parameters 2013 - 2015
Sector | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 (e)
Subscribers to telecoms services (million):
Fixed-line telephony | 4.71 | 4.60 | 4.50
Mobile telephony | 50.9 | 51.1 | 52.0
(Source: BuddeComm)
Key developments:
Virgin Mobile launched MVNO services in September 2014, and Jawraa Lebara did so in the following December.
Arabsat is building two new satellites, the HellasSat 4/SaudiGeoSat 1 and the Arabsat 6A, both scheduled for launch in 2018.
Saudi Arabia will be connected to the SEA-ME-WE 5, which is due for completion in 2016.
An agreement under which Mobily would become the majority stakeholder of GO Telecom was cancelled in May 2014, as well as a deal granting GO Telecom the rights to use 50,000 fibre-optic access points belonging to Mobily, but Go Telecom signed a new rights of use deal with STC, which agreed to grant GO Telecom access to 30,000 access points.
Having revoked Axiom Telecom's MVNO licence, the Saudi telecom regulator plans to resubmit it for public tender.
Virgin Mobile provides MVNO services over STC's network, offering two service brands: Virgin Mobile and FRiENDi.
Companies mentioned in this report
Saudi Telecom Company (STC)/Bravo, Integrated Telecom Company (ITC)/Bayn Consortium, GO Telecom/Etihad Atheeb, Mobily/Ettihad Etisalat/Bayanat Al-Oula, Zain KSA, Arabsat, ART, Orbit, Rotana, Lebara KSA/Etihad Jawraa, Virgin Mobile Middle East & Africa (Virgin Mobile MEA), Axiom Telecom.
- 1. Executive summary
- 2. Key statistics
- 2.1 Country overview
- 3. Telecommunications market
- 3.1 Overview of Saudi Arabia's telecom market
- 4. Regulatory environment
- 4.1 Background
- 4.2 Regulatory authority
- 4.3 Telecom sector liberalisation in Saudi Arabia
- 4.3.1 Data service provider licences
- 4.3.2 Fixed-line licences
- 4.4 Privatisation
- 4.5 Interconnect and access
- 4.6 Number Portability (NP)
- 4.7 Universal service
- 5. Fixed network operators in Saudi Arabia
- 5.1 Saudi Telecom Company (STC)
- 5.2 Integrated Telecom Company (ITC)
- 5.3 GO Telecom (Etihad Atheeb)
- 6. Telecommunications infrastructure
- 6.1 National telecom network
- 6.1.1 Alternative operators' infrastructure
- 6.2 International infrastructure
- 6.2.1 Submarine cable networks
- 6.2.2 Satellite networks
- 7. Telecoms & IT
- 8. Broadband access market
- 8.1 Overview
- 8.1.1 Censorship
- 8.1.2 Broadband statistics
- 8.2 Broadband forecasts
- 8.2.1 Scenario 1 higher growth
- 8.2.2 Scenario 2 lower growth
- 8.3 Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL)
- 8.4 Fibre-to-the-Home (FttH)
- 8.5 Fixed-wireless broadband
- 8.5.1 WiFi
- 8.5.2 WiMAX
- 9. Digital Economy/Digital media
- 9.1 Services
- 9.1.1 E-government
- 9.1.2 E-health
- 9.1.3 E-education
- 9.1.4 E-commerce
- 9.2 Smart cities/smart communities
- 9.2.1 Smart grids
- 9.2.2 Big Data
- 9.3 Digital media
- 9.3.1 Overview
- 9.3.2 Social media
- 10. Digital Broadcasting
- 10.1 Overview of broadcasting market
- 10.2 Broadband TV (IPTV)
- 10.3 Satellite-based digital Pay TV
- 10.3.1 ART
- 10.3.2 OSN Orbit Showtime
- 10.3.3 Rotana Media Group
- 11. Mobile communications
- 11.1 Overview of Saudi Arabia's mobile market
- 11.1.1 Mobile statistics
- 11.2 Regulatory issues
- 11.2.1 Award of second GSM mobile licence
- 11.2.2 iDEN contract awarded
- 11.2.3 Award of Third Generation (3G) licences
- 11.2.4 Award of third mobile licence
- 11.2.5 Roaming
- 11.2.6 Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs)
- 11.3 Mobile technologies
- 11.3.1 Analogue
- 11.3.2 Digital
- 11.3.3 3G/HSPA
- 11.3.4 LTE/4G
- 11.4 Major mobile network operators
- 11.4.1 Saudi Telecom Company (STC)
- 11.4.2 Mobily (Ettihad Etisalat)
- 11.4.3 Zain KSA
- 11.5 Major mobile virtual network operators
- 11.5.1 Virgin Mobile
- 11.5.2 Lebara KSA
- 11.6 Mobile voice services
- 11.6.1 Prepaid
- 11.6.2 Satellite mobile
- 11.7 Mobile broadband
- 12. Related reports
- Table 1 Country statistics - Saudi Arabia 2015
- Table 2 Telephone network statistics 2015
- Table 3 Internet user statistics 2015
- Table 4 Fixed broadband statistics 2015
- Table 5 Mobile statistics 2015
- Table 6 National telecommunications authority
- Table 7 UAE GDP and inflation 2005 - 2019
- Table 8 Saudi Arabia mobile, fixed-line and total telecoms revenue 2001 - 2013
- Table 9 Fixed and mobile market share 2000 - 2015
- Table 10 STC Group revenue and profit 2005 - 2014
- Table 11 Historic - Fixed lines in service and teledensity - 1995 - 2004
- Table 12 Fixed lines in service and teledensity 2005 - 2015
- Table 13 International Internet bandwidth 2005 - 2013
- Table 14 IT market revenue 2006 - 2015
- Table 15 Historic fixed internet users and user penetration - 1995 - 2004
- Table 16 Fixed internet users and user penetration 2005 - 2015
- Table 17 Fixed broadband subscriptions technologies and penetration 2008 - 2015
- Table 18 Mobile broadband subscriptions technologies and penetration 2010 - 2015
- Table 19 Fixed and mobile broadband total and market share 2002 - 2015
- Table 20 Saudi Arabia household PC penetration 2002 - 2015
- Table 21 Forecast mobile broadband subscriptions higher growth scenario 2015, 2020; 2025
- Table 22 Forecast mobile broadband subscriptions lower growth scenario 2015, 2020; 2025
- Table 23 Historic - Mobile subscribers and penetration rate - 1995 - 2004
- Table 24 Mobile subscribers and penetration 2005 - 2015
- Table 25 Mobile operators, subscribers and annual change 2014
- Table 26 Major mobile operators' subscribers and market shares 2005 - 2014
- Table 27 Bravo historic financial data 2007 - 2012
- Table 28 Bravo historic subscribers and ARPU 2007 2012
- Table 29 Mobily revenue and profit 2006 - 2014
- Table 30 Zain KSA subscribers and revenue 2008 - 2014
- Table 31 Saudi Arabia prepaid subscribers 2002 - 2014
- Table 32 Zain prepaid subscribers 2008 - 2014
- Chart 1 Fixed and mobile market share 2000 - 2015
- Chart 2 Mobile operators' market share 2005 - 2014
- Exhibit 1 Wasel service project
- Exhibit 2 MBC/Al Arabiya
- Exhibit 3 Historical Bravo