jawad abbassi

Overview of the Arab World's Telecom and Broadband Markets

Jawad AbbassiFounder, General Manager

FTTH Council Europe 2010Lisbon, Portugal

24-25 February 2010

Regulatory Framework in the Arab World.

Telecoms Landscape in the Arab World.

Fiber to the Home Status in the Arab World.

Some Primary Research Findings from Arab Advisors Group’s Surveys.

Outline

Regulatory framework in the Arab World (February 2010)

Country Fixed market Cellular market Internet marketAlgeria Monopoly Competitive Competitive

Bahrain Competitive Duopoly Competitive

Egypt Monopoly Competitive Competitive

Iraq Competitive Competitive Competitive

Jordan Competitive Competitive Competitive

Kuwait Monopoly Competitive Competitive

Lebanon Monopoly Duopoly Competitive

Libya Monopoly Duopoly Monopoly

Mauritania Duopoly Competitive Competitive

Morocco Competitive Competitive Competitive

Notes:

• Bahrain: STC Bahrain, the third cellular operator in Bahrain, is expected to launch its services in the first half of 2010.

• Egypt: The NTRA is planning to award a second fixed license but no specific date was yet set by the regulator.• Libya: - On February 16, 2009 The General Telecommunication Authority of Libya (GTA) announced its intention to

grant one mobile and fixed license to a single privately owned operator to offer cellular and fixed services in Libya, the license is expected to be awarded before the first quarter of 2010.- GTA granted Al Jeel Al Jadeed and Libya Telecom and Technology (LTT) MVNO licenses but they did not launch their services yet.

Regulatory framework in the Arab World (February 2010) (cont.)

Country Fixed market Cellular market Internet marketOman Monopoly Competitive Monopoly

Palestine Monopoly Competitive Competitive

Qatar Monopoly Duopoly Monopoly

Saudi Arabia Duopoly Competitive Competitive

Sudan Duopoly Competitive Competitive

Syria Monopoly BOT Duopoly CompetitiveTunisia Monopoly Duopoly CompetitiveUAE Duopoly Duopoly Duopoly

Yemen Monopoly Competitive Duopoly

Notes:

• Oman: There are two MNOs and two MVNOs operating in the market. The two MVNOs, Friendi Mobile and Renna Telcom, launched services in the country during the second quarter of 2009.

• Palestine: The two mobile operators, Jawwal and Wataniya, face unlicensed competition from four Israeli operators.

• Qatar: Vodafone Qatar won the second fixed license but ictQATAR did not issue the license yet.• Tunisia: On June 22, 2009, the Tunisian Ministry of Communication Technologies awarded the fixed and 2G/3G

mobile telecommunication license to a consortium led by Divona Telecom and Orange (France Telecom). Tunisie Orange Telecom has successfully test-launched its 2G/3G mobile telecommunications network on February 4, 2010.

Bahrain takes the lead in fixed penetration by September 2009

Notes: Jordan’s PSTN penetration is by end of 2009.Lebanon’s PSTN penetration is by end of November 2009.Bahrain’s PSTN penetration includes only Batelco and Mena Telecom only

Source: Arab Advisors Group

PSTN subscribers (000s)PSTN penetration %

Cellular lines and penetration rates by September 2009


Cellular penetration % Cellular subscribers (000s)

34.3 million Internet users in the Arab World by end of 2008 of whom some 20-22 million are broadband users


Internet users penetration % Internet users (000s)

Arab Internet users by September 2009

Internet users (000s)Internet users penetration %

Note: Saudi Arabia’s Internet users figure is by end of 2009.

Mauritania’s Internet users figure include Mauritel’s users only.


Driven by wireless broadband, Saudi Arabia’s broadband accounts reached almost 2 million by September 2009

* Includes wireless broadband accounts where data is available (WiMAX, 3.5G/HSPA, EVDO).Source: Arab Advisors Group

Competition effects: In Algeria, Jordan and Kuwait cellular lines’ and revenues'

growth are decoupled


du bucks the regional trend possibly due to UAE’s comfortable duopoly situation


7 out of 24 analyzed cellular operators registered a drop in revenues during 2009’s

first nine months


FTTH status and prospects in the Arab World

• Fiber to the Home (FTTH) is still in its early stages in the Arab World.

• Eleven Arab countries have ongoing FTTH projects.

• Abu Dhabi will be the first city to be fully connected in FTTH.

FTTH milestone in Abu Dhabi: Etisalat plans to achieve a 100% FTTH reach in the city

• By year-end 2009, Etisalat passed 692,000 households in the UAE with FTTH.

• Etisalat’s plan is to connect over 1 million households by the year 2011.

• Etisalat’s broadband residential customers reached a total of 501,290 subscribers by end of Q3 2009.

• du offers Fiber to the Home (FTTH) network to its customers living in most new real estate developments in new Dubai areas.

The Ministry of Communications in Kuwait is replacing its aging networks

• The Ministry of Communications' FTTH Project in Kuwait started in October 2006

• The aim of the project is to replace the aging networks in some of the high population density areas and providing services to new residential areas thriving with construction.

• MOC contracted Alcatel Lucent to provide its "7,342 Intelligent Services Access Manager Fiber to the User" (ISAM FTTU) network solution using GPON technology.

STC in Saudi Arabia is deploying FTTH while ITC is planning to deploy the service

• Saudi Telecom Company (STC) is deploying FTTH in some districts of major cities.

• Integrated Telecom Company (ITC) is planning to deploy FTTH, but has not yet started implementation (expected to start deployment in May/June 2010).

• Saudi Arabia’s economic cities including King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) and Prince AbdulAziz bin Mousaed Economic City (PABMEC) are equipped with FTTH networks.

Eight Arab countries has ongoing FTTH projects

Country FTTH Status

Algeria Algerie Telecom launched the FTTH project in 2007 which is still under process. The project is concerned mainly with four major provinces in Algeria: Alger, Constantine, Orang and Setif.

Egypt On October 13, 2009 Telecom Egypt announced the launch of its first FTTH implantation in Egypt in Cairo suburb area of Qaramiya.

Jordan Jordan Cable Services has been providing FTTH in Jordan for almost two years for Internet purposes.

Iraq LS Cable signed a contract with Senatel to deploy FTTH in Salahaddin and Karbala in Iraq. The project started in August 2009 and expected to be finished in June 2012.

Lebanon

The Ministry of Telecommunications in Lebanon is still negotiating the possibility of establishing an FTTH network in Lebanon. They expect to start the project by 2011.

Solider (down town of Beirut) is equipped with FTTH.

Libya

On April 8, 2009, Libya’s Telecom and Technology company signed a contract with Huawei company in order to provide for the first time commercial Fiber to the Home (FTTH) services for 800 Libyan Households. The service will be provided as part of a project done by the Libyan company for Investment and development on a specific area in the capital Tripoli, named Hai Al Zohoor. Hai Al Zohoor contains 25 buildings, each comprising from 30-32 household units.

OmanFiber Optics projects and plans are being implemented by the two telecom operators: Omantel and Nawras. The water company is leveraging its widely deployed infrastructure to have a fiber optics network.

Qatar In August 2009, Qtel, has completed the trial phase of its first Fiber to the Home (FTTH) service. Qtel is working to provide the service in the Mesaieed and West Bay Lagoon areas of Qatar.

Lebanon

The Ministry of Telecommunications in Lebanon is still negotiating the possibility of establishing an FTTH network in Lebanon. They expect to start the project by 2011.

Solidaire (down town of Beirut) is equipped with FTTH.

Arab Advisors Group

Arab Advisors Group provides reliable research, analysis andforecasts of Arab communications, media, technology andfinancial markets markets.

This presentation draws from close to 1,800 reportspublished by Arab Advisors Group’s team. Proudly servingclose to 560 regional and global clients.

www.arabadvisors.comTel: 962.6.5828849Fax: 962.6.5828809

[email protected]

jawad abbassi

Business