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Mobile Voice Competition Strengthens in the Middle East

 

Madhya Pradesh, India -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/23/2011 -- The Middle East mobile sector is undergoing significant changes. We have seen more licensed operators entering the market and deregulation continues to change too.

The Gulf Cooperation Council market — namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and the Sultanate of Oman — is estimated to have a population of 37 million of whom a high percentage of around 40% are foreign workers and their families.

It is a market that enjoys a high standard of living — as reflected by per capita GDP estimated at around $22,200 in 2007.

Research reveals that pricing for mobile services too has tremendously changed over time. Many operators have moved from one plan on offer to multiple plans and also have a focus on offering attractive pricing for friends and family — which, as the figures show, is a large proportion of the population.

The charts provide some pricing benchmarks for GCC operators and other Arab countries surrounding GCC.

For comparison reason, we make a comparison with an European operator — in this case a UK provider.

We have selected one operator in each country. Prices do vary across operators in each country but not that significantly in terms of the base prices — that is, rental and usage charge.

The monthly rental charge for a postpaid product is relatively low if compared with some European countries. For example, Vodafone UK’s lowest priced postpaid product is the SIM-only 18 month contract for €17.23 a month. However this plan includes 100 minutes of talk time and 500 SMSs.

Usage charges for on-net calls — calls on the same network — or off-net, to phones on a different network, do not vary greatly — with the exception of Qatar, where an off-net call is charged significantly more than an on-net call.

Vodafone’s UK prices in the plan used as a comparison are €0.23 on-net and €0.40 off-net per minute, for calls outside the bundle.

SMS traffic is priced at the lowest in Oman, with Qatar charging the highest. In Qatar an on-net SMS is priced lower than off-peak and there are also peak and off-peak rates.

The off-peak rate for an on-net SMS is €0.04. This price is more in line with those charged by operators across the region.

For comparison in the UK, Vodafone’s price for an SMS outside the basis 500-message bundle is €0.14.

A number of operators in the Middle East offer family and friends schemes that bring the price down for calling certain numbers.

In Oman, Omantel’s family and friends service is available for subscribers on the Mada3 plan. Subscribers receive discounts on four pre-selected numbers with a 10% discount on national call rates to on-net numbers and a 5% discount on international call rates to international numbers.

The discount is on both peak and off-peak hours. A one time charge of €1.87 is levied for the activation of the service.

Saudi Telecom’s friends and family service in Saudi Arabia offers a 25% discount on calls to certain numbers.

Postpaid customers can choose one of three options, from five numbers within the network to four on the network and one international. A €0.76 charge is levied.

In the UAE, Etisalat offers a favourite country plan which provides a 25% postpaid and 20% prepaid discount on international dialled calls to one selected country.

However national and international call charges are 10% higher than the standard rates.

Also in the UAE, Du offers two schemes, neither attracting a monthly fee: Me&Mine National gives a 10% discount on two selected national numbers; and Me&Mine International gives 50% on two selected international numbers

Voice pricing will further evolve as competition becomes fiercer. The comparisons shown above reveal that pricing for the entry product is relatively attractive. Pricing is likely to become more complex with the addition of bundled offerings both in terms of price plans including communication as well as add on
bundles.

To date, if compared with other regions, far fewer add-on and bundled offers are available to the Middle East subscriber base.

http://www.voicenetglobal.com