The telecom and broadband market in Arab countries is experiencing strong growth. Cellular lines grew from 218.7 million in 2008 to 320.5 million in 2010, with penetration rates over 100% in several countries. Fixed broadband adoption is led by the UAE, Bahrain, and Qatar, while mobile broadband via 3G networks and smartphones is more widespread. Major drivers of growth include the expansion of fiber optic networks, rollout of 3G and upcoming 4G/LTE networks, and rising smartphone ownership, with over 47% of internet users in some countries owning a smartphone. The presentation provides an overview of telecom market trends and developments across the Arab world.

1. The Arab telecom &
broadband
landscape: Growth
galore!
Jawad Abbassi
Founder, General Manager
QITCOM 2012
Qatar
March 4, 2012

2. Outline
• Telecom & Internet market status
• Drivers for growth:
• FO
• 3G
• LTE
• Smartphones

3. Arab cellular lines: 320.5 million in 2010
up from 273.9 million in 2009 and 218.7
million in 2008
Cellular Penetration % Cellular Subscribers (000s)
250% 200% 150% 100% 50% 0% 0 20,000 40,000 60,000 80,000 100,000
91.8% Algeria*
Algeria* 33,333
130.0% Bahrain*
Bahrain* 1,605
100.6% Egypt Egypt 79,873
79.2% Iraq* Iraq* 23,404
110.3% Jordan*
Jordan* 6,741
124.2% Kuwait*
Kuwait* 4,448
70.7% Lebanon
Lebanon 2,841
146.9% Libya**
Libya** 9,433
67.1% Mauritani…
Mauritania** 2,181
100.4% Morocco
Morocco 31,982
169.4% Oman Oman 4,564
68.0% Palestine
Palestine 2,754
168.8% Qatar Qatar 2,811
187.9% Saudi Arabia …
Saudi 51,801
47.7% Sudan Sudan 18,691
53.1% Syria Syria 10,954
105.4% TunisiaTunisia 11,114
197.2% UAE UAE 10,926
47.0% Yemen Yemen 11,085
Note: The bar charts portray the figures per country by end of 2010
* Estimated
** For Libya and Mauritania figures are by 2009
Source: Arab Advisors Group

4. 18 Arab countries had 33.2 million fixed
lines by end of 2010
PSTN Penetration % PSTN Subscribers (000s)
40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 0 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 10,000
8.5% Algeria*
Algeria* 3,090
18.2% Bahrain*
Bahrain* 225
11.8% Egypt Egypt 9,330
4.3% Iraq Iraq 1,300
7.9% JordanJordan 485
14.5% Kuwait
Kuwait 519
20.5% Lebanon*
Lebanon* 825
2.3% Mauritania
Mauritania 74
11.8% Morocco
Morocco 3,749
9.6% Oman Oman 260
9.0% Palestine
Palestine 363
17.8% Qatar Qatar 291
15.1% Saudi Arabia …
Saudi 4,160
1.7% Sudan Sudan 666
19.7% Syria Syria 4,069
12.2% Tunisia
Tunisia 1,290
26.4% UAE UAE 1,461
4.4% YemenYemen 1,046
Note:
- The bar charts portray the figures per country by end of 2010
- Bahrain’s fixed penetration are based on Batelco’s subscribers only
* Estimated
Source: Arab Advisors Group

5. Fixed broadband Internet: UAE, Bahrain and
1.5% Egypt
Qatar lead the broadband adoption in the
1.5% Morocco
2.3% Oman
2.5% Palestine
4.2% Jordan
6.1% Kuwait
7.5% Saudi Arabia
8.1% Qatar
3
Fixed Broadband lines % of total population
9.4% Turkey
Arab World
10.1% Mexico
12.0% Slovak Republic
12.8% Bahrain
Source: Arab Advisors Group and OECD
2
13.1% Poland
-The figures are for end of June 2010.
16.0% UAE
1
18.7% Hungary
21.3% Italy
26.3% Japan
27.1% United States
30.5%
Note:
United Kingdom
31.4% France
34.2% Norway
34.4% Korea
37.3% Denmark
37.8% Netherlands
40%
30%
20%
15%
10%
35%
25%
5%
0%

6. Jordan, Lebanon and Tunisia joined the
3G/3.5G club
December 2009 November 2011
4
3 33 33 3 33 33 33
3
2 2 2 2 22 22 22 2 22
2
11
1
0 0 0
0
Note: By November 2011, Mobitel in Iraq offered 3G services in Kurdistan only and Yemen Mobile in Yemen offered
Ev – DO Rev.A services in limited areas
Source: Arab Advisors Group’s 3G/3.5G Cellular Services in the Arab World, operators

7. LTE networks are planned or already
underway in 8 Arab countries
LTE planned,
4 countries
LTE not
planned,
10 countries
Deployment
Contract
signed,
4 countries
Source: Arab Advisors Group analysis, May 2011

8. FTTH status and prospects in the Arab
World
• Fiber to the Home (FTTH) is still in its early
stages in the Arab World.
• Thirteen Arab countries have ongoing FTTH
projects.
• UAE, Qatar and Saudi lead the way. UAE with
almost universal coverage by end of 2011.
• In Qatar, Qtel invested heavily in rolling FTTH
(US$ 165 million)

9. 15 Arab countries have commercially
launched WiMAX networks
Algeria
Bahrain Licensed but not
operational, 5%
Iraq
Operational, 79%
Jordan
Qatar
Kuwait
Lebanon
Libya Syria
Egypt
Mauritania Not licensed, 16%
Palestine
Morocco
Oman
Saudi Arabia
Sudan
Tunisia
UAE
Yemen
Source: Arab Advisors Group, May 2011

10. Mobile ISPs: Mobile Internet is the most
common 3G/3.5G offered service
Multiplayer gam ing 5.6%
Video m ail 13.9%
Video m onitoring 13.9%
Mobile TV 44.4%
International video calling 50.0%
Local video calling 80.6%
Mobile Internet 100.0%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120%
Source: Arab Advisors Group, operators

11. Supply creates demand?
Qtel’s triple play accounts growth
Triple play subscribers (000s) Penetration %
50
4%
40
2.75% 3%
30
1.95%
2%
44.629
20
31.873
0.97%
1%
10
0.52%
15.793
8.110
0 0%
2008 2009 2010 H1 2011
Penetration as a % of total population.
Source: Qtel, Qatar Statistics Authority

12. Mobile broadband accounts well ahead of fixed
broadband accounts
2009 Broadband accounts (000s) 2010 Broadband accounts (000s)
2,800 2,700
2,600
2,400
2,200
2,000
1,800 1,690
1,600 1,473 1,413
1,402 1,366
1,400 1,310
1,200 1,027
1,000
800 707
600 476 499
400 205
200
-
Fixed Mobile Fixed Mobile Fixed Mobile
Egypt Morocco Saudi Arabia
Source: Arab Advisors Group, operators, regulators

13. 47.1% of Internet users in six Arab
countries have a smartphone
Smartphone ownership (weighted)
Smartphone
Standard 47.1%
phone
52.9%
Note: Percentages are calculated from total weighted respondents who have a cellular line (1,856)
Source: Arab Advisors Group online surveys in KSA, UAE, Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia and Morocco

14. Smartphones constituted 41.6% of total
cellular handsets in Jordan, 43.7% in the UAE
and 54.6% in KSA
60%
54.6%
50%
43.7%
41.6%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Jordan KSA UAE
Note: Percentages are calculated from the total handsets
Source: Arab Advisors Group’s Jordan Smartphone Survey 2011, UAE Smartphone Survey 2011, Saudi
Smartphone Survey 2011

15. 61.1% of respondents in Jordan reported
using smartphone applications, compared to
48% in KSA and 45% in the UAE
70%
61.1%
60%
50% 48.0%
45.0%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Jordan KSA UAE
Note: Percentages are calculated from the total respondents who have smartphones
Source: Arab Advisors Group’s Jordan Smartphone Survey 2011, UAE Smartphone Survey 2011, Saudi
Smartphone Survey 2011

16. Arab Advisors Group
Arab Advisors Group provides reliable research, analysis and
forecasts of Arab communications, media, technology and
financial markets.
This presentation draws from close to 2,700 reports
published by Arab Advisors Group’s team. Proudly serving
close to 635 regional and global clients.
www.arabadvisors.com
Tel: 962.6.5828849
Fax: 962.6.5828809
arabadvisors@arabadvisors.com