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Qatar - Telecoms, Mobile & Broadband
Paul Budde Communication Pty Ltd., March 2010, Pages: 24
Executive summary
BuddeComm’s Annual Publication, Qatar - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband, provides a comprehensive overview of the trends and developments in the telecommunications and digital media markets in Qatar.
Qatar is small and very wealthy, with income per capita almost twice as high as even Kuwait or the UAE. This is reflected in high penetration rates for mobile and fixed-line telecoms and for broadband Internet services.
Qatar was the last country in the region to introduce competition to its telecoms market. In July 2009 Vodafone Qatar launched mobile services, ending the monopoly of all sectors of the market previously enjoyed by incumbent Qtel. The consortium led by Vodafone plc of the UK won the second mobile licence in December 2007. A second fixed-line licence was awarded in September 2008, also to the Vodafone consortium.
Vodafone Qatar came into a market where mobile penetration was already over 150%. Almost all the many new licences tendered in the region over the past few years have been won by local regional operators - other than France Telecom’s long-term share of Jordan’s JTC, Vodafone is the only European operator in the region. The path to launch has not been easy, with both an IPO and the launch subject to delays.
Despite the high mobile penetration in Qatar, only 5% of subscribers were 3G subscribers rather than GSM in early 2009. This is significantly lower than in the UAE and could be a market for Vodafone to target.
Qtel has been preparing for competition, lowering tariffs in all sectors. Broadband tariffs in Qatar are particularly low for the region and broadband penetration on a household level is relatively high at over 40% and possibly higher. Qtel is also successfully selling its ‘Mosaic’ triple play package of voice, ADSL and IPTV.
Qtel has expanded outside its home market. Through its purchase of Wataniya of Kuwait, Qtel also acquired operations in Tunisia, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, the Maldives and a licence for Palestine. In addition it has separately acquired in Iraq and Oman. Unlike most of its regional rivals, Qtel has expanded further into Asia with interests in Singapore, Cambodia and Laos. In February 2009 it completed the purchase of a 65% share in Indosat of Indonesia. Its operations outside Qatar made up three quarters of its revenues for 2008 but less than half of its profit.
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