Kingdom driving GSM subscriber growth

The mobile subscriber base in Saudi Arabia hit 53.7 million in Q4 2011 thus approximately doubling the aggregate subscriber base of 26 million of rest of the GCC countries, according to a report by Global Investment House (Global) on the GCC telecom sector quarterly. Saudi mobile subscriber base, however, decreased by 4.2 percent QoQ to 53.7 million in Q4 2011. The decline in subscriber base was due to adjustment for inactive subscribers, according to the report. Zain KSA saw the largest adjustment to its numbers with its subscriber base coming down to 7.57 million in Q4 2011 compared to 9.95 million subscribers in Q32011, the report said. Bravo also saw a decline in its subscriber base to 156,000 due to adjustments for inactive subscribers. After the adjustments, Saudi Telecom Co. (STC) remains the market leader with a market share of 46.9 percent. Zain KSA has seen its share coming down to 14.1 percent in Q4 2011, according to the report. In Bahrain, meanwhile, total mobile subscriber base was at 1.72 million at the end of Dec. 2011, registered a YoY increase of 9.5 percent. Q4 2011 witnessed a QoQ growth of 1.4 percent in subscriber base, the report said. In Q4 2011, Batelco (Bahrain Telecom Co.) witnessed a YoY decline of 4.0 percent while Zain witnessed a growth of 1.8 percent in its subscriber base. Batelco lost 13.2k subscribers QoQ while Zain & Viva gained 23k and 14.1k subscribers, respectively, during the 4th quarter. STC (Viva), which is the third operator, STC (Viva) gained market share of around 27.3 percent at the end of 4Q11. In the last two quarters, Zain has gained market share, which increased from 28.1 percent in 2Q11 to 28.7 percent in 3Q11 and 29.6 percent in Q4 2011, according to the report. Kuwait’s total GSM subscriber base reached 5.03 million at the end of December 2011, registering a YoY increase of 13.0 percent. 4Q11 witnessed a QoQ growth of 2.3 percent in subscriber base, added 110.7k new subscribers during the quarter, the report said. In Q4 2011, Zain achieved a QoQ subscribers growth of 2.2 percent and Wataniya reported a growth of 1 percent. In 4Q11, Zain added 45k new subscribers while Wataniya added 19.7k new subscribers during the quarter, according to the report. On the other hand, Oman’s total mobile subscriber base hit 4.81 million at the end of Dec. 2011, registering a YoY increase of 4.4 percent. Q4 11 witnessed a QoQ growth of 2.6 percent or 121.8k subscribers during the quarter, according to the report. In Q4 2011, Omantel’s mobile subscriber base grew by 5.0 percent QoQ while Nawras’ subscriber base declined marginally by 0.6 percent QoQ. In Q4 2011, subscriber base of Nawras declined by 11.2k QoQ while Omantel’s subscriber base increased by 133k. Over the last few quarters Omantel has been gradually gaining the subscriber market share, increased from 54.1 percent in Q4 2010 to 58.6 percent in Q4 2011, the report said. At the end of Q4 2011, Qatar’s total GSM subscriber base was at 2.87 million, registering a YoY increase of 2.0 percent. Q4 2011 witnessed a QoQ decline of 0.2 percent or 7.0k customers during the quarter, the report said. In Q4 2011, Qtel’s mobile subscriber base declined marginally by 1 percent QoQ while Vodafone’s subscriber base grew by 1.9 percent. In Q4 2011, Vodafone added 15k new subscribers while Qtel witnessed a decline of 22.0k subscribers during the quarter. The subscriber market share, after remaining almost constant in the first two quarters of 2011 at 73 percent for Qtel and 27 percent for Vodafone, started moving in favor of Vodafone Qatar with its market share increased to 27.2 percent in Q3 2011 and 27.8 percent in Q4 2011. At the end of Dec. 2011, UAE’s active GSM subscriber base was at 11.73 million, registering a YoY increase of 7.3 percent. Q4 2011 witnessed a QoQ increase of 4.1 percent or 465.6k subscribers during the quarter, according to the report. In Q4 2011, Etisalat’s mobile subscriber base grew by 3 percent QoQ while DU’s subscriber base grew by 5.6 percent. In Q4 2011, Etisalat added 187.5k subscribers while DU added 278.1k subscribers. Du achieved significant mileage in terms of subscriber market share, which increased from 39.7 percent at the end of Q4 2010 and 43.8 percent in 3Q11 to 44.5 percent at the end of 4Q11. From arabnews