UAE's telcos pressed to replace Huawei as 5G network vendor
The UAE has a strong mobile market, dominated by Etisalat and du. Both are majority-owned by the government. In a bid to attract additional foreign investment, it was resolved in early 2021 that the stake held by foreigners in the two companies could be increased.Etisalat and du have deployed LTE networks providing national coverage, while the 5G penetration rate is the second highest globally after China. This has underpinned growth in the mobile broadband sector, and has enabled the strong development in the take-up of rich content and applications, as well as m-commerce. To help increase the capacity of 5G networks in coming years, and so keep up with data demand, the government has allowed for the GSM networks to be closed down and for spectrum and other assets to be re-purposed for 5G by the end of 2022.
The fixed-broadband network in the UAE is dominated by fibre, with DSL having a minor and declining presence. This focus on a fully fibred infrastructure has also facilitated growth in e-commerce, and has supported the government's long-term aim of transitioning the economy from its dependence on oil to being knowledge-based and supported by digital services.
The country stands to benefit from having signed the Abraham Accord Declaration with Israel, which aims to normalise relations between the two countries. Such benefits can be seen in the agreement to enable local ISPs to access Bezeq International's submarine cable infrastructure, and so improve direct connectivity to Europe, South East Asia, and Africa. The UAE's ISPs can also access Bezeq International's data centre in Tel Aviv, improving internet services.
Key Developments:
- Regulator confirms plans to close down GSM networks by the end of 2022 and refarm spectrum for 5G;
- UAE's telcos increase foreign ownership limit to 49%;
- UAE enjoying one of the fastest median 5G download speeds globally;
- Amazon Web Services to open data centres in the UAE in the first half of 2022;
- Telecom regulator encourages affordable roaming rates within GCC countries;
Table of Contents
- Key statistics
- Regional Europe Market Comparison
- Market characteristics
- Market Leaders
- Market Challengers
- Market Emergents
- TMI versus GDP
- Mobile and mobile broadband penetration
- Fixed versus mobile broadband penetration
- Country overview
- Telecommunications market
- Regulatory environment
- Historical overview
- Regulatory authority
- Office of Communications (Ofcom)
- Fixed-line developments
- Telecom sector liberalisation
- Interconnect
- Access
- Number Portability (NP)
- Carrier PreSelection (CPS)
- Wholesale Line Rental (WLR)
- European Electronic Communications Code
- Mobile network developments
- Spectrum regulations
- Spectrum re-farming
- Spectrum sharing
- 2.6GHz
- 700MHz
- 800MHz
- 900MHz
- 1800MHz
- 2100MHz
- 2.3GHz and 3.4GHz
- Revised licence conditions
- Other spectrum auctions
- Roaming
- Mobile Number Portability (MNP)
- Mobile Termination Rate (MTR)
- Mobile market
- Mobile infrastructure
- 6G
- 5G
- 4G (LTE)
- 3G
- Other infrastructure developments
- Mobile voice
- Mobile data
- SMS and MMS
- Mobile broadband
- Major mobile operators
- H3
- VMO2
- Vodafone
- EE
- Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs)
- Mobile content and applications
- Mobile applications
- M-payment MNO collaboration
- Contactless payments
- m-ticketing
- m-banking
- m-health
- Fixed-line broadband market
- Government support
- Digital Britain
- Rural broadband
- Hybrid Fibre Coax (HFC) networks
- Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) networks
- G.fast
- Fibre-to-the-Premises (FttP) networks
- BT
- Virgin Media
- Other developments
- Other fixed broadband services
- Broadband Powerline (BPL)
- Fixed wireless (Wi-Fi and WiMAX)
- Fixed network operators
- British Telecom
- Openreach
- Company restructure
- KCOM
- Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC)
- VMO2
- COLT
- Currys (Dixons Carphone Group. Carphone Warehouse)
- TalkTalk
- Sky
- Telecommunications infrastructure
- National telecom network
- Next Generation Networks
- International infrastructure
- Submarine cable networks
- Satellite networks
- Cloud services
- Smart infrastructure
- Appendix - Historic data
- Glossary of abbreviations
- Related reports
List of Tables
List of Charts
List of Exhibits
Companies Mentioned
- Etisalat
- du
- Thuraya
- Yahsat
- Virgin Mobile
- Swyp
