" /> " /> " />

UAE's mobile phone growth may peak next year

25 July 2010

A new report by Business Monitor International has found that growth of mobile handsets sales in the UAE could stall in 2011 when market saturation matures, Gulf News has reported. "The UAE's mobile sector is close to saturation with the official penetration rate one of the highest in the world," BMI's latest UAE Q2 2010 Telecoms Report said. With a stabilised penetration rate, the number of mobile phone subscribers in the country next year should be about 11.9 million compared to 7.2 million subscribers in 2007, the market research firm said. "People will not keep buying mobile devices. We think that in 2011 we will see a significant cooling in SIM growth," Rosalind Craven, BMI Senior Telecoms Analyst, told the daily. "New growth will come in value-added services. Anything that isn't a basic core service or SMS."

A MEED Subscription...

Subscribe or upgrade your current MEED.com package to support your strategic planning with the MENA region’s best source of business information. Proceed to our online shop below to find out more about the features in each package.