31 Mar, 2016, Navi Mumbai, India: Marketreportsonsaudiarabia.com presents a new report on “MVNOs in the Middle East: Saudi Arabia Emerges as the Largest MVNO market in the Middle East in 2015” This is followed closely by MNO sub-brands, accounting for 27.3% of all MVNOs in the Middle East.
The MVNO market in the Middle East is characterized by limited presence of MVNOs. The region is far behind developed regions such as Western Europe and North America in terms of MVNO subscriptions and penetration. Nonetheless, where MVNOs do have a presence in the region, they have made a significant market impacts For instance in Oman, MVNO subscriptions are estimated to account for 14.9% of total mobile subscriptions in 2015, while recently launched MVNOs in Saudi Arabia have acquired a significant number of subscribers, making the Saudi MVNO market the largest in the region in 2015. Over the next five years, expects total MVNO subscriptions in the Middle East (including Oman, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Israel) to grow at a CAGR of 19.5% to reach 7.3m in 2020, from an estimated 3.0m in 2015. This will largely be supported by continued subscriber acquisition by MVNOs in Saudi Arabia. Further developments in the Middle Eastern MVNO market will be supported by the expected entrance of MVNOs in Iran
Key Findings
• Currently, ethnic models are the most prevalent MVNO business models in the Middle East, being adopted by 36.4% of the total MVNOs present in the region. This is followed closely by MNO sub-brands, accounting for 27.3% of all MVNOs in the Middle East. Major MVNOs in the Middle Eastern market include FRiENDi, Virgin Mobile, Renna and Lebara.
• Regulators are increasingly assessing the potential benefit of MVNOs in the mobile market. This is largely to support further liberalization efforts to boost price competition and service innovation. Further...