Report Reveals Rapid Growth In Syria and Oman GSM Markets

VOL. XLV

No 27

8-July-2002

SYRIA/OMAN

Report Reveals Rapid Growth In Syria and Oman GSM Markets

A recent report published by the Arab Advisors Group, a research company monitoring communications and internet markets in the MENA region, reveals rapid growth in the Syria and Oman GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) markets. Syria is well below potential, but grew quickly in 2001 due to the very small subscriber base in 2000 and the reduction of connection fees, which were initially high. In Oman growth has been spurred by the introduction of prepaid services, which has increased subscribers from 156,000 in 2000 to 336,000 in 2001. The report found that the total number of GSM subscribers in the 10 countries studied exceeded 16.5mn by the end of 2001. Perhaps surprisingly, the country with the largest number of subscribers is Morocco, followed by Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Bahrain and Syria. The highest penetration rates were observed in the small rich markets of the UAE (58%), Bahrain (42%) and Kuwait (42%). In the future, Egypt and Saudi Arabia are expected to dominate the Arab GSM market in terms of total subscribers, while the UAE and Kuwait are likely to continue to yield the highest penetration rates. In the short term, Syria is expected to be the fastest growing Arab GSM market, the report said.