AREGNET Price Benchmarking Study 2012 Ranking Among GCC Countries
Table of Contents Introduction. 3 Summary of overall results from the AREGNET study..... 4 TRA Index...... 5 PSTN Tariffs baskets. 6 Mobile Tariffs baskets 12 Fixed Broadband Tariffs baskets. 17 Mobile Broadband Tariffs baskets... 23 Leased line Tariffs baskets... 28 Annexes Annex 1: Table of Results. 34 Annex 2: PSTN baskets Methodology 35 Annex 3: Mobile baskets Methodology... 36 Annex 4: Fixed Broadband baskets Methodology 37 Annex 5: Mobile Broadband baskets Methodology.. 38 Annex 6: Leased Line basket Methodology..... 39 2
Introduction The Retail Tariff benchmarking study is one of the AREGNET studies originally initiated by TRA in 2008 and updated annually. The 2012 update was released in March 2013. This AREGNET study allows readers to compare the retail price levels for telecommunications services in the Arab countries, and to draw comparisons with the OECD averages. The purpose of this TRA document is to summarize the s rankings compared with those of other GCC countries for each of the following services: Fixed voice (PSTN) Mobile telephony Leased Lines Broadband ADSL Mobile broadband OECD : Organization for Economic Co- operation and Development) 3
Summary of overall results from the AREGNET study PSTN service prices for residential PSTN service are among the lowest in the GCC. Residential PSTN services are much cheaper than business PSTN services. Mobile service prices for mobile services are among the lowest in the GCC and the Arab region. Fixed Broadband service prices for low speed (>256 Kbps) residential fixed broadband are among the lowest in the GCC and the Arab region. prices for medium speed (2-8 Mbps) residential fixed broadband are among the lowest prices in the GCC. is one of only eight Arab countries to offer high speed (>15 Mb/s) broadband prices for high speed broadband are the second cheapest in the GCC after Mobile Broadband service. prices for medium speed (2-8 Mbps) mobile broadband are among the lowest in the GCC. prices for high speed (> 8 Mbps) mobile broadband are relatively high compared to other GCC countries. Leased Line service prices for leased line service are the forth lowest in the GCC. 4
TRA Index To enable comparisons at the service levels, the TRA has developed an index based on the outputs of the study. This index works by combining countries scores on all baskets related to a specific service, e.g. all PSTN baskets (low, medium, and high speeds). Based on the TRA Index, the ranked as follows: Services Ranking among GCC countries PSTN services No. 1 Mobile services No. 1 Fixed Broadband services No. 1 Mobile Broadband services No. 3 Leased Line services No. 4 5
PSTN Tariffs 6
Residential PSTN Service low usage basket Low usage PSTN residential basket (20 calls/month) OECD average 24.15 21.59 GCC Countries Ranking 8.52 No 1 Qatar Oman 10.37 15.81 24.13 No 2 Qatar No 3 Oman No 4 No 5 25.15 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 ranked first among GCC and Arab countries for the price of low usage PSTN residential services (20 calls/month) followed by. prices for low usage basket are much lower than OECD and s. 7
Residential PSTN Service Medium usage basket Medium usage PSTN residential basket (140 calls/month) OECD average 51.1 82.41 GCC Countries Ranking Qatar 28.99 45.92 49.63 No 1 Qatar No 2 No 3 Oman No 4 Oman 62.91 No 5 63.98 0 20 40 60 80 100 ranked first among GCC and Arab countries in terms of prices of the medium usage PSTN residential basket (140 calls/month). prices for the medium usage basket are lower than OECD and s. 8
Residential PSTN Service high usage basket High usage PSTN residential basket (420 calls/month) OECD average 76.26 147.5 GCC Countries Ranking 43.78 No 1 Qatar 61.44 72.2 Qatar No 2 No 3 Oman No 4 Oman 75.15 No 5 117.74 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 ranked first among GCC and Arab countries for the price of the high usage PSTN residential basket (420 calls/month) prices for the high usage basket are lower than OECD average and s. 9
Business PSTN Service low usage basket Low usage PSTN business basket (100 calls/month) OECD 37.57 53.05 GCC Countries Ranking 35.77 No 1 30.61 42.42 No 2 No 3 Oman No 4 Oman 43.05 Qatar No 5 Qatar 61.96 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 ranked second among GCC countries and third compared to Arab countries for the price of the low usage PSTN business basket (100 calls/month). prices for the low usage basket are lower than OECD average and s. 10
Business PSTN Service High usage basket High usage PSTN business basket (260 calls/month) OECD average 75.69 166.92 GCC Countries Ranking Oman Qatar 104.03 106.92 111.39 116.74 131.7 No 1 No 2 No 3 Oman No 4 Qatar No 5 0 50 100 150 200 ranked second among GCC and Arab countries for the price of the high usage PSTN business basket (260 calls/month). prices for the high usage basket are lower than prices but higher than OECD averages. 11
Mobile Tariffs 12
Mobile Service Low usage basket Low Usage Mobile basket (30 calls/month) OECD average 14.35 22.02 GCC Countries Ranking Kuwait 11.23 12.94 13.8 No 1 No 2 Kuwait No 3 Qatar Oman 15.46 16.44 17.5 0 5 10 15 20 25 No 4 Qatar No 5 Oman No 6 ranked second among GCC countries for the price of the Low usage basket (30 calls/month). prices for the Low usage basket are lower than OECD and s. 13
Mobile Service Medium usage basket Medium Usage Mobile basket (300 calls/month) OECD average 47.26 133.6 GCC Countries Ranking 62.1 No 1 71.73 No 2 Qatar Kuwait Oman 87.18 94.6 96.57 103.97 0 50 100 150 Qatar No 3 No 4 Kuwait No 5 ranked first among GCC and third compared to Arab countries for the price of the Medium usage basket (300 calls/month). prices for the medium usage basket are much higher than OECD averages but lower than Arab averages. 14
Mobile Service High usage basket High usage Mobile basket (900 calls/month) OECD average 86.22 340.3 GCC Countries Ranking 193.3 No 1 Kuwait Qatar Oman 142.46 177.31 188.48 237.7 267.44 Kuwait No 2 No 3 No 4 Oman No 5 Qatar No 6 0 100 200 300 400 ranked third among GCC countries for the price of the High usage mobile basket (900 calls/month). prices for the high usage basket are higher than OECD averages but lower than s. 15
Mobile Service SMS basket SMS basket OECD average 16.02 43.74 28.38 GCC Countries Ranking Oman 21.54 Oman No 1 Kuwait 23.04 39.89 41.39 No 2 No 3 Kuwait No 4 No 5 Qatar 45.19 Qatar No 6 0 10 20 30 40 50 ranked third among GCC countries for the SMS basket (400 SMS/month). prices for the SMS basket are higher than OECD averages but lower than s. 16
Fixed Broadband Tariffs 17
Residential Fixed broadband Service Low speed Low usage/low speed (256 kb/s 2.5 Mb/s) OECD average 24.4 54.23 GCC Countries Ranking 33.12 40.48 No 1 No 2 Oman Qatar 57.62 68.11 77.47 Oman No 3 No 4 Qatar No 5 0 20 40 60 80 100 ranked first among GCC countries for the price of low speed fixed broadband residential services. prices for low speed are slightly higher than OECD averages but lower than s. 18
Residential Fixed broadband Service Medium speed Low usage/medium speed (2.5 15 Mb/s) OECD average 27 154.46 GCC Countries Ranking (1) Oman 56.87 95 109.7 No 1 No 2 Oman No 3 No 4 109.78 Qatar No 5 Qatar 150.78 0 50 100 150 200 ranked second among GCC countries for the price of medium speed fixed broadband residential services. prices for medium speed are much higher than OECD averages but lower than s. (1) Only 14 Arab countries offer this speed 19
Business Fixed broadband Service Low speed Low usage/low speed (256 Kb/s 2.5 Mb/s) OECD average 27.83 148.65 GCC Countries Ranking 112.15 Oman No 1 Oman 57.62 80.97 No 2 No 3 No 4 160.71 Qatar No 5 Qatar 224.08 0 50 100 150 200 250 ranked third among GCC countries for the price of low speed fixed broadband business services. prices for low speed services are much higher than OECD averages but lower than s. 20
Business Fixed broadband Service Medium speed Low usage/medium speed (2.5 15 Mb/s) OECD average 31.75 563.93 GCC countries Ranking (2) Oman Qatar 160.71 161.78 251.86 444 No 1 Oman No 2 No 3 Qatar No 4 No 5 488.61 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 ranked Third among GCC countries for the price of medium speed fixed broadband business services. prices for medium speeds are much higher than OECD averages but lower than s. (2) Only 12 Arab countries offer this speed 21
Business Fixed broadband Service High speed Low usage/high speed ( > 15 Mb/s ) OECD average 39.50 878.42 GCC (3) Countries Ranking 475.21 No 1 169.05 No 2 No 3 974.41 Oman No 4 Oman 1,394.29 0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 1,400 1,600 ranked Third among GCC countries for the price of high speed fixed broadband business services. prices for high speeds are much higher than OECD averages but lower than s. (3) Only 8 Arab countries offer this speed 22
Mobile Broadband Tariffs 23
Residential Mobile broadband Service Medium speed Low usage/medium speed (2-8 Mb/s) 38.54 36.31 GCC Countries Ranking (5) Oman 12.15 14.83 No 1 Oman No 2 No 3 Qatar 41.26 75.59 No 4 Qatar No 5 0 20 40 60 80 ranked third among GCC countries for the price of medium speed mobile broadband residential services. prices for residential medium speeds are lower than s. (5) Only 11 Arab countries offer this speed 24
Residential Mobile broadband Service High speed Low usage/high speed (> 8 Mb/s) 43.78 35.94 GCC (6) Countries Ranking Qatar 32.95 34.72 No 1 Qatar No 2 No 3 Kuwait 45.14 51.99 No 4 Kuwait No 5 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 ranked third among GCC countries for the price of high speed mobile broadband residential services. prices for residential high speeds are lower than s. (6) Only 6 Arab countries offer this speed 25
Business Mobile broadband Service Medium speed Low usage/medium speed (2-8 Mb/s) 39.59 33.28 GCC Countries Ranking (7) Oman 14.83 20.24 Oman No 1 No 2 No 3 Qatar 30.13 75.59 No 4 Qatar No 5 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 ranked fourth among GCC countries for the price of medium speed mobile broadband business services. prices for business medium speeds are lower than s. (7) Only 11 Arab countries offer this speed 26
Business Mobile broadband Service High speed Low usage/high speed (> 8 Mb/s) 48.64 GCC Countries Ranking 32.95 35.94 No 1 No 2 No 3 38.2 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 ranked second among GCC countries for the price of high speed mobile broadband business services. prices for business high speeds are lower than the s. (8) Only 5 Arab countries offer this speed 27
Leased Line Tariffs 28
64 Kb/s Leased line basket Leased line Service 577 529 GCC Countries Ranking Qatar 412 Qatar No 1 No 2 514 526 No 3 No 4 Oman No 5 Oman 571 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 ranked fourth among GCC countries for the price of 64Kb/s leased line services. price for 64 Kbps are lower than s. No equivalent OECD data exists. 29
Leased line Service 256 Kb/s Leased line basket 1,101 1,482 GCC Countries Ranking 1,012 No 1 Qatar No 2 Qatar 1,020 Oman No 3 Oman 1,142 No 4 No 5 1,193 0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 1,400 1,600 ranked fifth among GCC countries for the price of 256Kb/s leased line services. No equivalent OECD data exists. 30
Leased line Service 2 Mb/s Leased line basket OECD average 2,039 Qatar 2,306 3,078 3,112 GCC Countries Ranking Qatar No 1 No 2 2,680 Oman No 3 Oman 2,856 No 4 No 5 3,603 0 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000 3,500 4,000 ranked fourth among GCC for the price of 2Mb/s leased line services. 31
A full copy of the AREGNET report can be found on the following website: https://www.tra.org.bh/en/pdf/2012pricebenchmarkingoft elecommunicationsserviceinthearabcountriesvf.pdf 32
Annexes 33
Annex 1: Table of Results Services PSTN services Mobile Services Fixed Broadband Services Mobile Broadband Services Leased Line Services Basket Residential PSTN Service low usage basket Residential PSTN Service Medium usage basket Residential PSTN Service high usage basket Business PSTN Service low usage basket Business PSTN Service High usage basket Mobile Service Low usage basket Mobile Service Medium usage basket Mobile Service High usage basket Mobile Service SMS basket Residential Fixed broadband Service Low speed Residential Fixed broadband Service Medium speed Business Fixed broadband Service Low speed Business Fixed broadband Service Medium speed Business Fixed broadband Service High speed Residential Mobile broadband Service Medium speed Residential Mobile broadband Service High speed Business Mobile broadband Service Medium speed Business Mobile broadband Service High speed Leased line Service 64 Kbps Leased line Service - 256 Kbps ranking among GCC countries 1 st 1 st 1 st 2 nd 2 nd 2 nd 1 st 3 rd 3 rd 1 st 2 nd 3 rd 2 nd 2 nd 3 rd 3 rd 4 th 2 nd 4 th 5 th th 34
Annex 2: PSTN Baskets Methodology The OECD 2012 basket methodology for PSTN services includes: installation, rental, fixed line calls (local & national calls), calls to mobiles, and International calls. The usage price is calculated using the weights shown in the table below. A time-of-day weighting is also applied: Call distribution Total calls Fixed to fixed Local Fixed to fixed National Fixed to mobile International Low usage basket - residential 20 61% 20% 17% 2% Medium usage basket - residential 140 58% 15% 23% 4% High usage basket - residential 420 73% 17% 8% 2% Low usage basket - business 100 48% 19% 30% 3% High usage basket - business 260 43% 23% 25% 9% 35
Annex 3: Mobile Baskets Methodology The OECD 2012 basket methodology for mobile services includes: installation, rental, calls to fixed lines, calls to mobiles, voice mail, SMS and selected discounts. The value of international calls are added to the national basket as a separate international element. Mobile baskets are calculated for both pre-paid and post-paid services. The usage price is calculated using the weights shown in the table below. A time-ofday weighting is also applied: Call distribution Total calls Mobile to Fixed Lines Mobile to Mobiles Voicemail SMS Low usage basket 30 16% 80% 4% 100 Medium usage basket 300 14% 83% 3% 225 High usage basket 900 14% 83% 3% 350 36
Annex 4: Fixed Broadband baskets methodology The OECD 2012 basket methodology for Fixed broadband services includes: installation, rental and usage costs. The Fixed broadband data is split into different speed ranges in order to obtain consistency between services compared. The ranges are listed in the table below : Speed range Low usage Usage per month High usage GB Hours GB Hours >0.256 Kbit/s 2 10 6 30 >2.5 Mbit/s 6 15 18 45 >15 Mbit/s 11 20 33 60 >30 Mbit/s 14 25 42 75 >45 Mbit/s 18 30 54 90 Only Low Usage baskets are used in this presentation. 37
Mobile broadband baskets Annex 5: Mobile Broadband baskets methodology Mobile Broadband baskets are not yet agreed by the OECD so the available Teligen (4) profiles are used instead. The Teligen profile for Mobile broadband services considers: rental and usage costs. installation charges, Two speed ranges of 2 8 Mb/s and >8 Mb/s are also used in order to distinguish between traditional mobile broadband offers in the 3.6 7.2 Mb/s range, and newer offers with advertised speeds at 21 Mb/s and higher. Only the advertised speeds are considered. Data volume Days / month Hours / month Low usage - 1 GB 15 5 High usage - 6 GB 30 30 Only Low Usage baskets are used in this presentation. (4) The consultant who conducted the benchmarking study for AREGNET 38
Annex 6: Leased Lines baskets methodology Non-recurring charges (installation) are excluded from the basket. Only monthly rental charges are included. The basket weights of the 2012 OECD basket methodology are: 2 km 20 km 50 km 100 km 200 km 500 km <=2 Mbit/s 50% 18% 6% 8% 10% 8% =>34 Mbit/s 42% 18% 15% 9% 8% 8% 39
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