With increasing popularity of smartphones in Saudi Arabia, demand for higher speed network has surged. To meet this demand, the kingdom’s telecom market is adopting eEnterprise solutions whilst welcoming new players namely Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs). In 2015, Saudi Arabia was recognised as the biggest MVNO market in the Middle East.
With penetration rate shooting up to 167.4%, mobile subscriptions increased to 52.8mn in late 2015. During the same time, 3G and 4G accounts made up over 63% of total connections. While fixed broadband subscriptions rose to 3.56mn, mobile broadband reached 20.19mn. Subscribers of wireline voice services increased to 3.8mn. However, in the first quarter of 2016, the mobile market lost 1.9mn connections that were apparently inactive prepaid accounts.
Good news for the mobile market is the rise of MVNOs and reduction in Mobile Termination Rates (MTRS). Growing at a CAGR of 19.5% in the Middle East, MVNOs have proved to be helpful in offering flexible data plans at reasonable rates. They are encouraging price competition and innovation in the telecom industry. Furthermore, these MVNOs target niche market segments and help MNOs increase their customer-base.
Although the telecom market has the reached saturation point, there is scope for network operators to introduce innovative business models and marketing techniques. The loss suffered by the three senior players, Saudi Telecom Company (STC), Zain, and Mobily, in 2015 suggests that customers want faster, better, and newer data services.
