UAE Mobile Rates Lowest Among Arab CountriesPublish Date: 2010-03-04 11:00:17 Story Code: 25831 ABU DHABI — Mobile rates in the UAE are the lowest among 22 Arab countries for customers in all the user categories, but higher than the prices being paid by the customers in middle and high usage categories in the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries, the UAE Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) said.
The finding is based on a recently-conducted benchmarking exercise of mobile service rates undertaken on behalf of the telecom regulators in 22 Arab countries. The survey evaluated the price range for a ‘basket’ of mobile services including connection, subscription and usage of services like voice, SMS and MMS, a TRA Press statement said. “Both operators in the UAE are currently offering attractive pricing plans for consumers, especially for mobile voice service, which is an indication of the continued development of healthy competition in the UAE mobile market” the statement quoted Mohamed Nasser Al Ghanim, Director-General of TRA, as saying. The exercise reveals that mobile customers in the low user basket in the UAE pay lower prices than both the Arab and OECD countries. The customers of du mobile services pay on an average $10.51 per month, while the Etisalat customers pay $10. 68. On the other side, the Arab simple average in this category is $25.13 per month and the GCC simple average is $13.92 per month. In the case of OECD countries the simple average is $12.77 per month, the TRA statement said, adding that all these figures have been worked out after adjusting for purchasing power parity. But the situation is drastically different in the case of middle and high usage category customers. For instance, the du customers in the medium user basket pay about $27.07 per month, while the Etisalat customers pay $28.42 per month. The Arab simple average in this category is $55.62 per month and the GCC average is $36.13 per month. Interestingly, the OECD simple average is only $24.51 per month. In the high user basket, the du prices are $42.95 per month and Etisalat prices are $42.34. The Arab simple average prices in this category are $85.41 per month and the GCC simple average is $54.03. On the other hand, the OECD simple average in this category is only $37.77 per month. Responding to the findings of the exercise, Irfan Ellam, telecom analyst at Al Mal Capital, told Khaleej Times that the figures indicate that even though the telecom prices in the UAE are lower than the Arab countries, a large number of customers here pay higher than their counterparts in the OECD countries. “The rates are likely to come down further as a high mobile penetration level further increases competition between Etisalat and du and if a third mobile operator were to be licenced,” he said. © Khaleej Times 2010. All rights reserved. Share this story:  Digg
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