Arab telecom operators served 85 million cellular subscribers and 30 million mainlines in 2005.

A new report from Arab Advisors Group analyzes and ranks 18 fixed voice operators and 39 cellular operators in eighteen Arab countries. The Scorecard of Key Performance Indicators of Arab Telecom Operators offers analytical comparisons between the service providers, by examining their performance in terms of the absolute number of subscribers, penetration rates, revenues, monthly Average Revenue Per User (ARPU), market shares, and financial ratios.

With the advent of new operators and increased competition in 2005, subscribers for 39 examined cellular operators in 18 Arab countries reached 84.844 million. ALJAWAL and Maroc Telecom sustained their top rankings by end of 2005, with 11.845 million and 8.237 million subscribers respectively. Orascom Telecom Algérie ended 2005 with 7.109 million subscribers, becoming the third largest mobile operator in the region. Bahrain recorded the highest cellular penetration rate in 2005, which stood at 105.8% followed by UAE (99%). UAE and Bahrain also had the highest fixed line penetration rates in 2005, which stood at 27% and 26.6% respectively. The simple average for the operators' Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) was US$ 26 in 2005 for cellular services compared to a fixed line ARPU of US$ 45.7. Qatar's Qtel recorded the highest ARPU for both fixed and cellular services in 2005.

A new report, "A Scorecard of Key Performance Indicators of Arab Telecom Operators" was released to the Arab Advisors Group's Telecoms Strategic Research Service subscribers on May 18, 2006. This report can be purchased from the Arab Advisors Group for only US$ 1500. The 50-page report, which has 38 detailed exhibits, provides a comprehensive analysis of the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of the fixed voice and mobile operators in the Arab region. The KPIs are for the years 2004 and 2005. The eighteen countries covered in this report are: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Sudan, Tunisia, UAE and Yemen. Two separate sections covered the fixed operators and the mobile operators.

Any investment in this report will count towards an annual Strategic Research Service subscription should the service be acquired within three months from purchasing the report.

The investment can also count towards attending Arab Advisors' third annual Media and Telecoms Convergence Conference on June 6 & 7 2006. More information on the conference can be seen at http://www.arabadvisors.com/Convergence/schedule.htm

Please contact the Arab Advisors Group for full information on the conference, agenda and sponsorship opportunities.