For the first five months of 2010 to end-May, the UAE recorded a net decline in mobile subscriptions by 64,091, according to the latest figures from the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA). This represents the first time since mobile telephony was introduced in the UAE in 1994 that mobile subscriptions have fallen month-on-month.

The area in which the decline was experienced the most was with respect to prepaid subscriptions, where 114,475 users were lost between January and May, with the number of active prepaid subscriptions standing at 9.6 million at the end of May, down from 9.72 million at the end of January 2010.

The number of post-paid subscriptions rose by 50,384 accounts during the period, crossing the one million mark for the first time in May. At the end of May the number of post-paid subscriptions in the UAE stood at 1.02 million, up from 969,005 at the end of January.

The 0.6 per cent fall in overall mobile subscriptions between January and May 2010 can be partly attributed to the reduction in the number of residents living in the UAE, given that the global economic crisis led to large numbers of residents, primarily labourers, being repatriated to their home markets during the course of 2009 and 2010. Labourers overwhelmingly utilise prepaid subscriptions.

In a recent article compiled by Comm., the impact of the lower number of residents in the country was also highlighted with respect to the commercial difficulties a number of mobile retailers have faced over the past 12 months.

The largest declines in overall active mobile subscriptions were witnessed in the months of March and April, where numbers fell by 22,143 and 101,899 respectively before rebounding in May by 58,121 subscriptions. At the end of May, the TRA counted 10.62 million active mobile subscriptions in the UAE, representing a mobile penetration rate of 198.5 per cent. These figures were down from a peak mobile penetration rate of 206.7 per cent reported at the end of November 2009, reflecting an active subscriber base of 10.74 million.

Despite the fall in active subscriptions in the first five months of this year, the country’s two telecom providers continue to report robust operational results. Du recorded 182,100 net active mobile subscribers added during the quarter to end-June, taking the total subscription base to 3.92 million. Etisalat on the other hand reported 7.8 million active subscribers at the end of June, up from 7.71 million at the end of March, representing half the number added by Du during the corresponding period.

It took Ericsson 20 years to install one million radio base stations as announced in 2007, but has only taken a further three years to deliver the next million. The two millionth radio base station was an Ericsson RBS 6000 unit, delivered in August as part of a mobile broadband network expansion project.

Ericsson’s RBS 6000 is a multi-standard, energy-efficient base station that supports GSM/EDGE, WCDMA/HSPA and LTE in a single package

“Ericsson’s milestone delivery is proof of the explosive growth of mobile broadband,” commented Ericsson’s vice president and head of radio networks Ulf Ewaldsson. “The exponential growth in consumer adoption, data speeds and technology advancements continues to transform the way people communicate. As the world leader in mobile communications, Ericsson is proud of its role in advancing the industry.”

A main driver of the acceleration of deliveries is Ericsson’s RBS 6000, a multi-standard, energy-efficient base station that supports GSM/EDGE, WCDMA/HSPA and LTE in a single package.

Bahrain’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has said that owners of unregistered SIM cards will have until September 26, 2010 to register and complete their personal details, after which the unregistered mobile lines will be suspended.

The TRA originally instructed the operators to start registering prepay users in July 2008.

“We have taken this step to support the public safety and discourage illegitimate use of the mobile telecommunications networks,” commented TRA chairman and acting general director, Mohammed Al Amer.

“It is very important for the users of mobile services to understand the objectives of this step and to take necessary actions to register their details, if they wish to continue using their existing prepaid mobile phone number,” he added.

Oman telco Nawras is celebrating the milestone achievement of serving more than two million mobile customers in the sultanate. The company began commercial operation in March 2005 as a mobile operator employing 250 employees. It has since grown to become a full service provider with approximately 800 staff.

“We are extremely grateful to the more than two million people in Oman who are our valued customers and we thank them for choosing to rely on our innovative mobile service to get closer to their friends and families”, said Ross Cormack, Nawras CEO.

Nawras enjoys a mobile market share of close to 50 per cent, and is preparing to launch an IPO of 40 per cent of its stock next month.

Qtel Group today reported its first half results to end-June, recording a 13.7 per cent increase in revenues year-on-year to stand at QAR13.1 billion (US$3.6 billion).

Net profit attributable to Qtel shareholders at the end of the period stood at QAR1.8 billion, up 12.5 per cent year-on-year. The group’s consolidated customer base stood at 66.6 million at the end of June 2010, up from 51.4 million a year earlier, with its EBITDA performance described as strong, increasing 14.6 per cent to QAR6.3 billion. This resulted in an EBITDA margin of 48 per cent, an improvement of two per cent compared to the first six months of 2009.  

“We are pleased to see the results starting to come through on our in-market strategies. In particular, we continue to enjoy good results in Qatar and see important progress in Kuwait, where decisive efforts to maintain market share are yielding results. Indonesia, Iraq and Algeria continue to demonstrate their growth potential while the roll-out of fixed-line services in Oman also represents an exciting landmark in our development as a group,” commented Nasser Marafih, CEO of the Qtel Group.