price bench marking for arab countries 2009

8/2/2019 Price Bench Marking for Arab Countries 2009

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TelecommunicationsPrice Benchmarking

for Arab Countries 2009

Final Report from the AREGNET Price Benchmarking Study

June 2009

Prepared by:

Name Halvor SannsPosition Director Tariff Services

www.Teligen.com Teligen, 2009. All rights reserved.

Tel +47 3702 3400

Email [email protected]


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Contents of this report

Background on this study and the basket concept 4

Results from the PSTN basket 6

Results from the Mobile basket 17

Results from the Leased Line basket 24

Results from the Broadband basket 33

Results from the call price comparison 42

Summary of findings 50

Page 3


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The context

The benchmarking study was originally initiated by TRA Bahrain in 2008. This update for2009 was commissioned by TRA Bahrain on behalf of AREGNET.

In increasingly competitive markets it is important for regulators to be able to track theevolution of rices and anal ze the im act of rice chan e and com etition on theeffective prices paid by consumers.

This study allows Arab countries to compare the price levels within and betweencountries, and also to compare with the OECD countries. Data presented in this report iscomparable with data from the 2008 report. However, please note that exchange ratesare erent.

The benchmarking covers the following services:

Fixed voice (PSTN) (OECD basket equivalent)

Leased Lines (OECD basket equivalent)

Broadband ADSL (Teligen basket)

Call cost for specific types of calls

The methodologies for fixed and mobile telephony and leased lines are identical to theOECD Price Benchmarking baskets, with minor changes. A separate documentexplaining the methodology used in this study is available.

The data was collected by Teligen from public sources on the Internet. Data has

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su sequen y een passe o na ona regu a ors or commen s.


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The Basket method for price benchmarking

Tariff informationTariff information

Tariff information

Combine tariff information with a usage profilein a basket calculation engine to calculatecost of individual calls and tariff elements.

Basket results

Usage profile(Basket)

per tariff(in national currency)

Basket resultsper tariff

(in national currency)

Basket results

per tariff(in national currency)

Basket resultsper tariff

Adjust costs for tax, currency and purchasingpower to create comparable results.

Tax and exchange rateadjustments.

Purchasing Power.

(in national currency)

Benchmarking resultsfor all tariffs

The benchmarking results show the end usercost of using the service according to the

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(in common currency) usage profile, in a consistent format.


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Fixed voice (PSTN) basket, as defined by the OECD

Five different basket definitions: Low usage, medium usage and high usage for residential users SoHo usage (single user) and SME usage (30 users) for business

Volume and distribution of calls to different destinations Distribution and duration of calls at different times of day

Volumes Call proportions Call durations (minutes)Total calls

per month Fixed line Mobile International Fixed Mobile International

Residential Low 50 76.0% 19.0% 5.0% 3.7 - 7 1.8 - 2.1 5.5 - 7.2

Residential Medium 100 75.0% 23.0% 2.0% 3.7 - 7 1.8 - 2.1 5.5 - 7.2

Residential High 200 65.0% 31.0% 4.0% 3.7 - 7 1.8 - 2.1 5.5 - 7.2

Business Small 150 67.0% 29.0% 4.0% 1.9 - 3.1 1.6 - 1.7 2.9 - 3.9

Business SME 233 72.0% 20.0% 8.0% 1.9 - 3.1 1.6 - 1.7 2.9 - 3.9

Several tariff packages can be covered for each operator

Tariff information included in basket calculation: Fixed charges for installation and rental

Usage charges covering local through to national calls, calls to mobiles, andinternational calls to other AREGNET countries plus a few other destinations

The results show the lowest cost option for each operator

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Fixed voice (PSTN) data issues

Tariff data was researched from operator websites in the first weeks ofJanuary 2009. .

Regulators have been offered the opportunity to comment on the tariffinformation, and on this report, prior to final publication.

Due to lack of published data, and lack of feedback, no data isavailable for: Comoros

Iraq uwa

Sudan

Part of data is missing for:

Yemen (no prices for national calls and fixed line)

The analysis covers 37 tariffs from the incumbent operators

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Low usage basket results

Most Arab countries have a lowfixed cost, and average to highusa e cost.

OECD Residential basket, Low Usage

21.49

24.59

UAE, Etisalat

Tunisia, Tunisie Telecom

January 2009

OECD simple average

International calls are particularlyexpensive (see international basket).For Arab countries the international

.

25.75

26.52

29.42

32.55

34.37

a ra n, a e co

Syria, Syrian Telecom *

Qatar, QtelYemen, Tele Yemen *

Libya, Libya Telecom

Saudi Arabia, Saudi Telecom

Arab simple average

usage is 62% of the total usage, whilefor the OECD it is 31%.

.

41.28

42.81

43.17

51.1162.75

or an, range

Algeria, Algerie Telecom

Lebanon, Ogero

Oman, Omantel

Egypt, Egypt TelecomSomalia, Somali Telecom

.

73.49

79.33

98.16

19.46

22.39

orocco, aroc e ecom

Mauritania, Mauritel

Djibouti, Djibouti Telecom

Palestine, Paltel

Turkey, Turk Telecom

Sweden, Telia

Two cheapest OECD countries

.

48.43

31.02

45.63

- 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

, er zon, +

Czech Rep.

OECD simple average

Arab s imple average

Currenc : USD/PPP er month VAT Included

Two most expensive OECD countries

Page 8The average lines are indications of the averages acrossOECD countries and Arab countries covered in this study

Fixed Usage

Countries marked * do not have

complete tariff data.


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Medium usage basket results

OECD Residential basket, Medium Usage

23.53

24.58

Yemen, Tele Yemen *

UAE, Etisalat

*

January 2009

OECD simple average

.

28.64

32.2737.01

43.02

43.33

,

Qatar, Qtel

Bahrain, BatelcoTunisia, Tunisie Telecom




.

55.01

58.97

62.52

64.13

71.26

,

Oman, Omantel

Lebanon, Ogero

Egypt, Egypt Telecom


Somalia, Somali Telecom

.

86.71

103.34

142.16

28.32

29.24

,

Morocco, Maroc Telecom


Palestine, Paltel

Sweden, Telia

Korea, KT


.

67.64

41.32

56.86

- 20 40 60 80 100 120 140

,

Czech Rep.

OECD simple average


Currency : USD/PPP per month, VAT Included


*


Fixed Usage



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High usage basket results

With high usage only three ofthe Arab countries can compare withthe average OECD cost.

OECD Residential basket, High Usage

61.52

65.32

UAE, Etisalat

Qatar, Qtel

*

January 2009

OECD simple average

The low fixed cost will, combined withthe relatively high usage cost, createa situation where competing operators

.

75.17

78.7084.11

94.13

98.92

,

Bahrain, Batelco

Saudi Arabia, Saudi TelecomTunisia, Tunisie Telecom

Yemen, Tele Yemen *

Jordan, Orange

Arab simple average

.Buying the low cost line from theincumbent operator, and cheaper

calls from an indirect provider, may

.

119.61

129.12

132.20

138.66

142.19

,

Lebanon, Ogero





is high.This may put the incumbent operatorin a difficult position.

.

182.65

250.38

344.78

32.30

42.43

,



Palestine, Paltel

Canada, Bell

Sweden, Telia


.

118.52

69.21

125.76

- 50 100 150 200 250 300 350

,

Czech Rep.

OECD simple average


Currency : USD/PPP per month, VAT Included


*


Fixed Usage



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SOHO basket results

The profile of the Small Office /Home Office basket is largely similarto the Medium Residential basket.The main difference is hi her overall

OECD Business basket, SOHO

28.16

33.93


Yemen, Tele Yemen *

January 2009

OECD simple average

usage and more international calls.

The difference between the Arab andthe OECD avera es is smaller for

.

39.32

43.9148.03

59.25

59.27

,

Bahrain, Batelco

UAE, EtisalatSaudi Arabia, Saudi Telecom


Oman, Omantel

ra s mp e average

business services than for residentialservices.

.

62.08

68.88

70.69

71.74

83.82

,

Lebanon, Ogero

Qatar, Qtel


Egypt, Egypt Telecom


.

91.24

112.39

178.53

26.12

29.15

,



Palestine, Paltel

Denmark, TDC

Korea, KT


.

73.03

51.95

62.76

- 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200

.,

Mexico

OECD simple average


Currency : USD/PPP per month, VAT Excluded


*


Fixed Usage



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SME basket results

The SME basket covers 30 linesand 30 users. Usage per useris higher than with the SOHO

OECD Business basket, SME

1,899.14

2,115.65

Tunisia, Tunisie Telecom


January 2009

OECD simple average

., .2,201.68

2,261.942,803.35

2,844.84

2,923.86

,

Bahrain, Batelco

Saudi Arabia, Saudi TelecomAlgeria, Algerie Telecom

Jordan, Orange

Qatar, Qtel

ra s mp e average

, .

3,060.37

3,167.18

3,506.19

3,715.62

4,004.05

,

Oman, Omantel

Yemen, Tele Yemen *




, .

5,995.38

6,772.44

9,802.02

960.54

1,005.50

,



Palestine, Paltel

Norway, Telenor

Denmark, TDC


, .

3,273.64

2,048.62

3,493.30

- 2,500 5,000 7,500 10,000

,

Mexico

OECD simple average


Currency : USD/PPP per month, VAT Excluded


*


Fixed Usage



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International call basket

The international basket gives the weighted average of the cost ofone call, weighted by:

,

Time of day: Residential basket with 25% peak time and 75% off-peaktime

, -

The destinations are weighted based on originating and destination

countries:rom o . r ca es as . r ca urope . mer ca s a

North Africa 30% 10% 10% 10% 20% 10% 10%

ME West 10% 35% 10% 5% 20% 15% 5%

ME East 10% 10% 35% 5% 5% 15% 20%

East Africa 10% 10% 20% 30% 10% 10% 10%

ME West Jordan Lebanon Palestine SyriaME East Bahrain Iraq Kuwait Oman Qatar Saudi UAE Yemen

East Africa Comoros Djibouti Egypt Somalia Sudan

Europe France UK Spain

N. America USA

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International call basket

International Residential Basket

1.76

2.30


Jordan, Orange

January 2009

OECD simple average

International calls out of the Arabcountries are 5 times as ex ensive

.

2.64

2.692.69

2.94

3.02

,

Lebanon, Ogero

Qatar, QtelTunisia, Tunisie Telecom


Bahrain, Batelco

Arab simple average

as the OECD countries on average,and even the cheapest Arab country

is 20 times more expensive thanthe best in class OECD country.

.

3.35

4.74

4.98

4.99

5.25

,

Oman, Omantel





.

7.74

10.54

16.76

0.15

0.21

,

Yemen, Tele Yemen *

Palestine, Paltel


Germany, Deutsche Telekom

Canada, Bell


.

2.74

0.97

4.93

- 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

,

Mexico

OECD simple average

Arab sim ple average

Currency : USD/PPP per call, VAT Included


*


Fixed Usage



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Fixed voice basket results 2008 2009 (based onnational currency)

Price changes 2008 - 2009:

Algeria: Line rental change

Egypt: Significant changes with higher linerental, higher local call charges, and lowercharges for calls to mobiles.

PSTN price change 2008 - 2009

-70% -60% -50% -40% -30% -20% -10% 0% 10% 20% 30%

Algeria

Jordan: No actual increase, 2009 data

includes more international destinations andis thus a better reflection of the actual basketcost.

Lebanon: Lower installation charge, and off-

a ra n

Djibouti

Egypt

Jordan

peak call charge to fixed lines.

Morocco: New range of packages, higher linerental, simpler call charges to fixed, cheaper

international calls. Oman: New packages with higher line rental,

Lebanon

Libya

Mauritania

long distance charges removed

Qatar: Increase in call charges to mobiles.

Saudi Arabia: Reduction in international callcharges.

UAE: Minor chan e in residential international

Oman

Palestine

Qatar

call charges, new business call charges. Libya was not included in the 2008 data.

The gap between the Arab average and the OECDaverage has widened over the last year for

Saudi Arabia

Somalia

Syria

Tunisia

Low

Medium

High

SOHO

Page 15

,OECD countries have gone down more than in Arabcountries.

UAE

Yemen

SME

Res. Intn.

Price change analysis is based on prices in nationalcurrency for each country.


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Observations from PSTN basket results

The cheapest countries throughout are : (*)

UAE, Tunisia, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia

The exact order of these may vary with usage level

This list is based on avera e rankin across all five baskets, residential and business

Most of these countries have total costs below or just above the OECD average forall baskets Generally the Arab countries in North Africa are more expensive than the Arab countries in

the Middle East.

The price range for the Arab countries (cheapest to most expensive) is wider thanfor the OECD countries

The cheapest OECD country is below the cheapest Arab country

OECD country

Most of the Arab countries have fixed costs well below the OECD countries, causingthe usage element to dominate. This makes the overall cost grow quicker withincreasing usage, something that will discourage growth in usage.

Even with significantly lower fixed cost the overall cost of using the service is higherin the Arab countries than in the OECD countries.

There is a clear lack of rebalancing in most Arab countries, where the usagerevenue covers a si nificant ortion of the fixed line cost for the o erators.

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International calls are significantly more expensive than in OECD countries

* Countries with gaps in the tariff information are not considered.


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Mobile basket , as defined by the OECD

Three different basket definitions: Low usage, medium usage and high usage

The low usage results will include both pre- and post-paid tariff packages

e as e s e ne e vo umes an e s ruc ure o usage

Volume and distribution of calls to different destinations Distribution of calls at different times of day

Mobile Mobile Voice SMS SMSCalls / messages

Call durations are in the range of1.4 to 1.9 minutes er call

- - - -

Low usage 15.00% 7.00% 48.00% 22.00% 8.00% 65.00% 35.00%

Medium usage 14.00% 7.00% 48.00% 24.00% 7.00% 65.00% 35.00%

High usage 13.00% 7.00% 47.00% 26.00% 7.00% 65.00% 35.00%

Low usage 30 33 0.67

Medium usage 65 50 0.67

High usage 140 55 1.00

Tariffs from the two dominant operators in each country Several tariff packages are covered for each operator

Tariff information covers:

ToD Peak Off-peak Weekend

Low usage 48.00% 25.00% 27.00%

Medium usage 50.00% 24.00% 26.00%

High usage 60.00% 19.00% 21.00%

Calls to fixed network, on-net and off-net mobile, and international calls to other AREGNETcountries plus a few others (see international basket on earlier page)

Charges for SMS, MMS and voicemail calls

The results show the lowest cost o tion for each o erator

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The international calls are added to the OECD basket definition for this study.


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Mobile tariff data issues

Tariff data was researched from operator websites in the first weeks ofJanuary 2009.

regulators.

Regulators have been offered the opportunity to comment on the tariffinformation and the draft version of this report.

No tariff information available for: Djibouti

Somalia

One operator only for Comoros, Palestine, Qatar(*) and Mauritania

Part of tariff information missing for:

Kuwait (international call prices for Zain)

Otherwise two operators are covered for each country

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* There is only one active operator in Qatar.


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Low usage mobile basket results

For the Low usage basketboth pre- and post-paidtariffs are included.

Low user basket

10.36

10.51

10.68

11.20

Jordan, Orange *

UAE, du *

UAE, Etisalat *

Iraq, Korek *

*

OECD average

Pre-Paid and Post-paid

selected regardless oftariff type.

.

11.77

13.26

13.99

14.20

14.45

14.66

15.01

uwa , a n

Jordan, Zain *

Bahrain, Zain BH *

Saudi Arabia, Mobily *

Bahrain, Batelco *

Oman, Oman Mobile *

Kuwait, Wataniya *

Sudan, MTN *

Arab average

Arab average - Intn

this graph are pre-paid(marked with an *).

15.39

16.00

16.88

17.04

17.36

18.10

18.24

Oman, Nawras *

Sudan, Zain SD *

Tunisia, Tunisie Tlcom

Saudi Arabia, Al Jawal *

Qatar, Qtel *

Tunisia, Tunisiana *

Algeria, Djezzy *

*

FixedVoiceMessagesIntn.

The OECD results do not includeInternational calls as theseare not part of the OECD

.

19.88

22.37

23.12

23.56

26.01

28.03

38.67

,

Egypt, Mobini l

Libya, alMadar *

Libya, Libyana *

Egypt, Etisalat *

Yemen, MTN *

Mauritania, Mattel

Comoros, Huri

.

The Arab average Intn lineshows the equivalent averagebased on the Arab basket results

47.16

48.5368.51

83.58

84.22

4.00

4.45

20.57

Morocco, Meditel *

Morocco, IAMPalestine, Jawwal *

Lebanon, Touch *

Lebanon, Alfa

Denmark, Sonofon *

Sweden, Tele 2 Com viq

Spain, MoviStarOECD results, minimum and maximum

Page 19

25.14

12.77

25.13

- 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

USA, AT&T *

OECD simple average


USD/PPP per month including VAT


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Medium usage mobile basket results

Medium user basket

27.07

28.42

28.89

30.28

UAE, du

UAE, Etisalat

Bahrain, Zain BH

Bahrain, Batelco

OECD average

Post-paid

.

35.48

36.90

36.9737.97

38.30

39.43

39.81

,

Jordan, Orange

Jordan, Zain

Tunisia, Tunisie TlcomOman, Oman Mobile

Tunisia, Tunisiana

Saudi Arabia, Mobily

Sudan, Zain SD

Arab average

Arab average - Intn

39.96

40.16

40.64

42.31

42.48

42.56

43.05

44.79

Algeria, Djezzy

Kuwait, Zain

Egypt, Mobini l

Kuwait, Wataniya

Qatar, Qtel

Algeria, ATM Mobilis

Egypt, Etisalat

Yemen, MTN



45.52

47.37

56.46

64.78

77.02

90.45

111.81

Saudi Arabia, Al Jawal

Sudan, MTN

Morocco, IAM

Mauritania, Mattel

Comoros, Huri

Morocco, Meditel

Lebanon, Alfa

.


.

129.91182.26

-

-

7.37

10.45

43.44

e anon, ouc

Palestine, JawwalLibya, alMadar

-

-

Sweden, Tele 2 Comviq

Finland, Elisa

Canada, Bell MobilityOECD results, minimum and maximum

Page 20

52.99

24.51

55.62

- 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200

USA, AT&T

OECD simple average

Arab simple average



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High usage mobile basket results

High user basket

42.34

42.95

48.03

48.35

UAE, Etisalat

UAE, du

Jordan, Orange

Kuwait, Zain

OECD average

Post-paid

.

51.29

55.09

55.5656.78

57.15

58.93

59.77

,

Bahrain, Batelco

Oman, Nawras

Jordan, ZainQatar, Qtel

Oman, Oman Mobile

Tunisia, Tunisiana

Saudi Arabia, Mobily

Arab average

Arab average - Intn

60.67

61.13

64.74

65.98

70.13

70.35

70.95

72.94

Algeria, D jezzy

Kuwait, Wataniya

Algeria, ATM Mobilis

Sudan, Zain SD

Egypt, Mobini l

Yemen, MTN

Saudi Arabia, Al Jawal

Tunisia, Tunisie Tlcom



76.00

76.13

76.67

125.94

138.67

145.24

155.61

Sudan, MTN

Morocco, IAM

Egypt, Etisalat

Mauritania, Mattel

Comoros, Huri

Morocco, Meditel

Lebanon, Alfa

.


.

213.15236.64

-

-

13.88

14.56

77.91

e anon, ouc

Palestine, JawwalLibya, alMadar

-

-

Finland, Elisa

Denmark, Sonofon

Slovak Republic, T-MobileOECD results, minimum and maximum

Page 21

78.67

37.77

85.41

- 50 100 150 200 250

Spain, MoviStar

OECD simple average




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Mobile basket results 2008 2009 (based on nationalcurrency)

Changes affecting the mobile basketresults: Algeria: Many new tariffs Bahrain: chan e in some er- aid tariffs

Mobile price change 2008 - 2009

-40.0% -30.0% - 20.0% -10.0% 0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0% 60.0% 70.0%

Algeria

Bahrain Low

Mediumelements

Egypt: Price reductions Iraq: International call charges reduced Jordan: Price reductions and changes in

Comoros

Djibouti

Egypt

Iraq

High

Kuwait: Changes in tariffs offered Lebanon: Changes in tariffs offered Morocco: Price reductions

Oman: Price reductions and new tariffs

Jordan

Kuwait

Lebanon

a es ne: r ce s ruc ure c anges Qatar: Price reductions and new tariffs Saudi Arabia: New tariffs Tunisia: New tariffs UAE: Pre-paid price structure change

Mauritania

Morocco

Oman

In other countries the changes havebeen minimal. The Arab average has not changed

much over the last year, while the

Palestine

Qatar

Saudi Arabia

Sudan

Page 22

decrease. Tunisia

UAE

YemenPrice change analysis is based on prices in nationalcurrency for each country.


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Observations from Mobile basket results

The cheapest countries throughout are : UAE, Jordan, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait

Only UAE is among the top 5 for all baskets

These are largely the same countries that have the best PSTN results

For low usage, with pre-paid packages, only a handful of the Arabcountries have price levels below the OECD average

For medium to high usage, with post-paid packages, most Arab

countries are above the OECD average e average across ra coun r es s - a ove e

average.

- ,have rather uniform price levels for mobile services.

Many operators have very few tariff packages on offer, i.e. do not

Page 23

.


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Leased Lines basket, as defined by the OECD

Prices for 64kb/s, 2 Mb/s and 34 Mb/s national circuits 6 specific distances are used:

2 km, 20 km, 50 km, 100 km, 200 km and 500 km

Each distance is weighted in order to calculate a weighted average price

for one circuit:

The 3 bitrates are calculated and re orted se aratel .

Distance (km) 2 20 50 100 200 500

Weight 35% 20% 15% 20% 5% 5%

Where the distances in the basket would go beyond the country borders,the weights of those distances will be attributed to the longest availabletariff zone. For example: In Bahrain a 64 kb/s circuit costs BD 140 regardless of distance.

The longest possible circuit distance in Bahrain is approximately 50 km. But theweights for 100 km (20%), 200 km (5%) and 500 km (5%) are still applied to thisprice as the price for the longest possible circuit in order to cover 100%.

This may bias the results for small countries with distance-sensitive prices in thesense that a relativel hi her ro ortion of the circuits will be at maximum cost

Small countries with no distance pricing will be favoured by this scheme. For the Arab country price benchmarking two more bitrates are added:

256 kb/s in order to cover a wider range of services relevant for the region, and155 Mb/s to show the otential for future develo ment.

Page 24

To the extent they are offered in the countries concerned.


25/52

Leased Lines data issues

Tariff data was researched from operator websites in the first weeks ofJanuary 2009.

regulators. Regulators have been offered the opportunity to comment on the tariff

No price data available for:

Comoros

Kuwait

Somalia

Other countries may have data missing for specific bitrates

Page 25


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64 kb/s Leased Lines basket results

64 kb/s circuit prices

96

193

217

Syria

Libya

E t

300

325

350

354

405

Jordan

Lebanon

Tunisia

Saudi Arabia

Algeria

ra average

The OECD data shown representthe lowest and highest prices found

in OECD countries, and the average

457

483

484

542

555

Qatar

UAE

Oman

Yemen

Morocco.637

1,410

1,516

100

808

333

a es tne

Mauritania

Djibouti

Iceland

Czech Rep.

OECD simple average OECD average

451

- 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 1,400 1,600 1,800 2,000


Monthly prices in US$ PPP, VAT excluded

Page 26


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256kb/s Leased Lines basket results

256 kb/s circuit prices

199

564

Syria

Egypt

660

672

676

701

788

or an

Libya

Lebanon

Tunisia

Bahrain

Arab average

801

827

839

967

995

Algeria

Saudi Arabia

Qatar

Oman

Palestine

1,084

1,129

1,351

2,005

2,175

Yemen

Morocco

UAE

Mauritania

Djibouti

967

- 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000



Page 27

Note: No equivalent OECD data exist.


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2 Mb/s Leased Lines basket results

2 Mb/s circuit prices

1,302

1,327

1 778

Egypt

Lebanon

S ria

1,879

2,039

2,418

2,553

2,802

Saudi Arabia

Qatar

Oman

Algeria

Morocco

ra average



,

2,860

2,978

3,211

3,786

4,058

UAE

Tunisia

Jordan

Libya

Djibouti

.5,1505,419

15,082

247

4,446

1,826

Palestine

Yemen

Mauritania

Denmark

Czech Rep.

OECD simple average

OECD average

3,615

- 4,000 8,000 12,000 16,000 20,000



Page 28


29/52


Only a few of the Arab countriespublish these prices.The service may still be offered


6,108

8,682

11,074

Qatar

Egypt

Saudi Arabia

Arab average

.25,526

26,450

64,365

1,683

21,358

Algeria

Morocco

Libya

Iceland

Mexico



9,210

23,701

- 20,000 40,000 60,000 80,000

OECD simple average



.

Page 29


30/52


Only a few of the Arab countriespublish these prices.The service may still be offered


17,364

22,571

23,905

Egypt

Saudi Arabia

Qatar

Arab average

.76,579

72,300

- 50,000 100,000 150,000 200,000

Algeria

Libya



221,079 --->

Page 30

Note: No equivalent OECD data exist.


31/52

Leased Line basket results 2008 2009 (based onnational currency)

The basket results are affected by: Algeria: General price reductions. Bahrain: No price reduction (2009

data based on 1 ear contract tariff

Leased Line price changes 2008 - 2009

-80.0% -60.0% -40.0% -20.0% 0.0% 20.0% 40.0%

Algeria

2008 was based on open term

contract tariffs). Jordan: Slight price increase for 256kb/s, long distances.

a ra n

Comoros

Djibouti

Egypt

Iraq

64 kb/s. Oman: Slight price increase for 64

kb/s, below 100 km. Saudi Arabia: Price reductions for

Jordan

Kuwait

Lebanon

Libya

64 k

256k

2 M

34 M

155M

circuits below 100 km Tunisia: Price increase for 64 kb/s,

all distances

No price changes recorded in other

Mauritania

Morocco

Oman

Palestine

coun r es. The Arab average is closing in on

the OECD average for low speeds(


32/52

Observations from Leased Line basket results

Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Syria have the lowest pricesfor National Leased Lines. Price levels in these countries are below or close to the OECD average

The price ranking may vary with product

The majority of the Arab countries have prices below the most expensiveOECD country .

For 2 Mb/s the prices in Mauritania stands out as very high.

For 34 Mb/s and 155 Mb/s the prices in Libya appear on the high side

For speeds up to 2 Mb/s the Arab average is in line with the OECD average. For higher speeds the prices in Arab countries appear higher than in the OECD

countries

However, most Arab countries are more expensive than the OECD best-in-class.

Many of the Arab countries are quite small in size and this price comparisonmay give advantage to the tariff structure used in these small countries. i.e. the reality may be worse than shown here.

Page 32


33/52

Broadband basket methodology

esearc cover ng 148 serv ce o er ngs rom t e ncum ent n 18 ra countr es Costs are presented for low speed (< 1 Mb/s) and medium speed (1-4 Mb/s) services separately.

Low speed does not include 1024 kb/s offers

Not all roviders ma offer services in both cate ories

Not all providers may publish tariffs for both residential and business services

Total monthly cost calculated based on two usage profiles: Low usage: 1 GB and 10 hours per month, in 20 minute sessions.

g usage: an ours per mon , n m nu e sess ons.

Only actual price results are shown in this report.

Actual price refers to the monthly cost paid by the customer, as opposed to the

Normalised price per 1 Mb/s that can also be produced by the benchmarking system

The European data shown refer to the incumbent ISP* ADSL services in 30 European countries

Tariff data cover the cheapest form of installation, modem cost (if applicable), monthly rental,usage allowances and any usage charges.

Additional information on speed, web-space, email addresses, penalties with excess usage, andcontract term duration is also included in the basic data and presented along with the costresults.

To the extent this information is published by the provider

Page 33

* Incumbent ISP will normally mean the ISP owned by the incumbent operator in the country.


34/52

Broadband data issues

Price data not available for broadband services in:

Iraq

uwa

Palestine Somalia

Speed assumptions for upload speed had to be made for:

Saudi Arabia

Regulators have been offered the opportunity to comment on the tariffinformation and the draft report.

Most providers in the Arab countries offer speeds down towards 128kb/s. The highest speed from many providers is 2 Mb/s or below.

The results shown focus on speeds from 256 kb/s and upwards. Thiscorresponds with the general definition of broadband.

Page 34


35/52

Residential low speed broadband (below 1 Mb/s)

Low speed residential broadband services

21.87

28.59

Algeria - 32 / 256

Morocco - 128 / 256

Red line = European low usage simple average

Blue line = Arab low usage simple average

29.28

30.79

37.81

41.54

45.48

Egypt - 128 / 256

UAE - 64 / 256

Tunisia - 128 / 256

Bahrain - 64 / 256

Libya - 128 / 256

57.64

65.15

65.38

66.95

70.62

Oman - 128 / 512

Sudan - 64 / 256

Jordan - 128 / 512

Saudi Arabia - 128 / 256

Lebanon - 64 / 256

143.00

147.56

163.16

644.26

671.32

Syria - 64 / 256

Djibouti - 128 / 256

Mauritania - 64 / 256

Yemen - 64 / 256

Comoros - 64 / 256

-

20.33

42.39

29.82

137.08

-

Switzerland - 100 / 300

Cyprus - 192 / 512

Europe simple average

Arab sim le avera e

Lowest and highest price level in Europe

European and Arab region averages

Page 35

- 100.00 200.00 300.00 400.00 500.00 600.00 700.00 800.00

Actual prices in US$ / PPP per Month, VAT included

Low usage cost High usage cost


36/52

Residential medium speed broadband (1 4 Mb/s)

Medium speed residential broadband services

43.47

52.77

Morocco - 512 / 1024

Tunisia - 512 / 1024



56.36

75.33

82.50

83.68

Algeria - 64 / 1024

Qatar - 128 / 1024

Jordan - 256 / 1024

Oman - 128 / 1024

92.54

97.61

129.46

157.01

UAE - 256 / 1024

Egypt - 256 / 1024

Saudi Arabia - 256 / 1024

Lebanon - 256 / 1024

162.80

268.08

Bahrain - 256 / 1024

Sudan - 256 / 1024

21.26

64.88

37.66

150.55

Ireland - 128 / 1024

Malta - 512 / 2048


Arab s im le avera e



Page 36

- 50.00 100.00 150.00 200.00 250.00 300.00




37/52

Business low speed broadband (below 1 Mb/s)

Low speed business broadband services

28.59

29.28

Morocco - 128 / 256

Egypt - 128 / 256



45.48

65.15

90.56

97.52

Libya - 128 / 256

Sudan - 64 / 256Lebanon - 64 / 256

Jordan - 128 / 512

.

173.93

192.88

606.98

644.26

Bahrain - 64 / 256

UAE - 128 / 512

Algeria - 32 / 256

Djibouti - 128 / 512

Yemen - 64 / 256

897.52

-

-

-

Tunisia - 256 / 512

-

-

-

28.10

42.39

34.77

248.87

Switzerland - 100 / 1000

Cyprus - 192 / 512


Arab simple average



Page 37

- 100.00 200.00 300.00 400.00 500.00 600.00 700.00 800.00 900.00

1,000.00Actual prices in US$ / PPP per Month, VAT included



38/52

Business medium speed broadband (1 4 Mb/s)

Medium speed business broadband services

43.47

97.61

Morocco - 512 / 1024 Red line = European low usage simple average


166.03

183.59

213.91

-

Jordan - 256 / 1024

Lebanon - 256 / 1024

Oman - 256 / 1024

219.92

268.08

439.07

463.03

Qatar - 128 / 1024

Sudan - 256 / 1024

UAE - 256 / 1024

Algeria - 64 / 1024

511.96

1,008.97

1,451.91

21.26

Bahrain - 256 / 1024

Djibouti - 256 / 1024

Tunisia - 512 / 1024

-

160.42

61.64

422.30

Austria - 2048 / 2048


Arab simple average


Page 38

- 200.00 400.00 600.00 800.00 1,000.00 1,200.00 1,400.00 1,600.00




39/52

Residential vs. Business broadband prices

The reason for the highbusiness price inTunisia is the chargeto the incumbent operatorfor network access.

Low speed (

30.79

41.54

45.48

57.64

.

173.93

114.29

45.48

-

UAE

Bahrain

Libya

Oman

.

75.33

82.50

83.68

463.03

219.92

166.03

213.91

Algeria

Qatar

Jordan

Oman

65.15

66.95

147.56

644.26

65.15

-

606.98

644.26

Sudan

Saudi Arabia

Djibouti

Yemen

92.54

129.46

157.01

162.80

439.07

-

183.59

UAE

Saudi Arabia

Lebanon

671.32

-

29.82

137.08

-

-

34.77

248.87

Comoros



268.08

37.66

150.55

511.96

268.08

61.64

422.30

a ra n

Sudan

Europe simple

average


- 100 200 300 400 500 600 700

US$/PPP per month, VAT included

Residential Business

- 200 400 600 800 1,000

US$/PPP per month, VAT included

Residential Business

Low s eed Medium s eed

Page 39

Business to residential price relationship in Arabcountries compared to European average.

Some business services offer higher speed and more spacethan comparable residential services.

Arab simple average 182% 280%

Europe simple average 117% 164%


40/52

Broadband basket results 2008 2009 (based onnational currency)

The basket results are affected by:

Algeria: Reduced monthly rental

D ibouti: Reduced monthl rental

Broadband price change 2008 - 2009

-100.0% -80.0% -60.0% -40.0% -20.0% 0.0% 20.0% 40.0% 60.0%

Algeria

Bahrain Low S eed Low usa e

Egypt: Change in usage allowance

Jordan: Not an actual increase, but the

incumbent access charge was not

Comoros

Djibouti

Egypt

Iraq

,

Low Speed, High usage

Medium Speed, Low usage

Medium Speed, High usage

Morocco: Reduced monthly rental

Oman: Change in package range, and

monthly rental

Jordan

Kuwait

Lebanon

Libya

Qatar: Price structure change for business

Sudan: Reduced prices

UAE: Reduced monthly rental

Prices in Arab countries have one down

Mauritania

Morocco

Oman

Palestine

significantly over the last year. But so hasprices in Europe, and the relative

difference stays basically the same.

Qatar

Saudi Arabia

Somalia

Sudan

Page 40

Tunisia

UAE

YemenPrice change analysis is based on prices in nationalcurrency for each country.


41/52

Observations from Broadband basket results

Speeds above 4 Mb/s appear only to be offered by incumbents in 5 of thecountries: Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria. e pr ces are very eren e ween coun r es Price difference between lowest and highest price level is 3064% for low speed

services, and 2321% for medium/high speed. Speeds below 256 kb/s are common in most Arab countries or spee s a ove s e pr ces are genera y g er an w a s oun n

Europe For low speed broadband (0.256 - 1 Mb/s) the prices in the majority of the Arab

countries tend to be similar to the European average, but the speeds used inEuro e will be hi her.

In Europe the most common speeds are in the range 1-4 Mb/s and above, andlower speeds are in many cases not offered at all. There is a clear move towardshigher speeds, only since last year the situation has changed significantly.

The average price relationship between business and residential offering isg er or ra coun r es an uropean coun r es

Please note that specific business offerings often include higher speeds, more emailand web space, and different conditions.

Most services are very basic and do not offer many additional

Page 41

Only some of the countries apply usage-based prices


42/52

Call cost comparison

The comparison of call cost is based on the actual cost of a 3 minutecall.

os s are compare or oca ca s, a ona ca s an ca s o e

At peak and off-peak times Off-peak meaning the lowest possible cost period

These comparisons have a much simpler methodology than the basket

comparisons shown elsewhere in this report, and will reflect the costsfor specific call types.

The results are presented with countries in alphabetical order as aranking of these results is not necessarily useful.

Services with for example free calls (zero cost per call) may still have ahigher cost to the end user

Page 42


43/52

Local call comparison

Many of the countries have thesame prices for local and nationalcalls.

3 minute local call

0.17

0.08

Algeria

Bahrain

Comoros No data

Peak average

Off-peak average

Entries with call cost of 0.00 havefree calling included in the monthly

0.18

0.08

0.12

0.18

Djibouti

Egypt

IraqJordan

Kuwait

No data

No data

.0.00

0.64

0.28

0.20

0.26

Libya

Mauritania

Morocco

Oman

Palestine.

0.06

0.00

0.03

0.05

Qatar

Saudi Arabia

Somalia

Sudan

Syria

Tunisia

Peak

Off-peak

No data

0.00

0.14

0.00 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.50 0.60 0.70

UAE

Yemen


No data

Page 43

US$ PPP, VAT included


44/52

National call comparison

3 minute national call

0.34

0.08

Algeria

Bahrain

Comoros No dataPeak average

Off- eak avera e

Entries with call cost of 0.00 havefree calling included in the monthly

0.18

0.39

0.14

0.18

Djibouti

Egypt

IraqJordan

Kuwait

No data

No data

.0.00

0.64

0.51

0.20

0.26

Libya

Mauritania

Morocco

Oman

Palestine.

0.25

0.06

0.03

0.47

a ar

Saudi Arabia

Somalia

Sudan

Syria

Tunisia Peak

No data

0.33

0.24

0.00 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.50 0.60 0.70

UAE

Yemen


Off-peak

No data

Page 44



45/52

Local vs. National

3 minute local vs. national call (peak time)

0.17

0.080.34

0.08

Algeria

Bahrain

ComorosLocal average

National avera e

For entries with no bar in the graph,please refer to the data in the

0.18

0.08

0.12

0.18

0.14

0.39

Djibouti

Egypt

IraqJordan

Kuwait

..

0.64

0.28

0.20

0.26

0.51

0.20

0.26

0.64

0.18Libya

Mauritania

Morocco

Oman

Palestine

0.06

0.03

0.05

0.25

0.06

0.47

0.03

Qatar

Saudi Arabia

Somalia

Sudan

Syria

Tunisia Local

0.14

0.33

0.24

0.00 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.50 0.60 0.70

UAE

Yemen


National

Page 45



46/52

International call comparison (call to USA)

3 minute call to USA

1.64

2.18

Algeria

Bahrain

Comoros No data

Peak average

Off-peak average

14.48

5.88

0.95

2.17

Djibouti

Egypt

IraqJordan

Kuwait

No data

No data

2.10

4.83

2.49

2.60

5.55

Libya

Mauritania

Morocco

Oman

Palestine.

2.50

1.05

4.27

1.18

a ar

Saudi Arabia

Somalia

Sudan

Syria

Tunisia

Peak

Off-peak

No data

2.31

6.05

3.58

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16

UAE

Yemen


Page 46



47/52

National vs. International to USA

3 minute National vs. International call (peak time)

0.34

0.081.64

2.18

Algeria

Bahrain

ComorosNational average

Intn. USA avera e

For entries with no bar in the graph,please refer to the data in the

0.18

0.39

0.14

5.88

0.95

Djibouti

Egypt

IraqJordan

Kuwait

..

0.64

0.51

0.20

0.26

2.49

2.60

2.17

4.83

5.55

2.097Libya

Mauritania

Morocco

Oman

Palestine

0.25

0.03

0.47

2.50

1.05

1 18

0.00

0.06

4.27

2.29Qatar

Saudi Arabia

Somalia

Sudan

Syria

Tunisia National

0.24

.

2.31

3.58

0.33

6.05

0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00 7.00 8.00

UAE

Yemen


Intn. USA

Page 47


C


48/52

Call costs 2008 2009 (based on national currency)

Very few call charges have actually changed 2008 2009

No changes in basic national call charges and basic international

Some changes in local call charges (see below)

The range of tariff packages has expanded in many countries,.

Changes in local call charges:

Egypt: Local call charges have increased with 30%

Lebanon: Off peak charges for local calls are introduced

Oman: New tariffs have higher peak and lower off-peak chargesthan before last ear had one char e at all times.

Page 48

Ob ti f th ll t i


49/52

Observations from the call cost comparison

Prices of calls vary considerably between countries

About half of the countries do not offer off-peak rates for national calls

Off-peak discounts for international calls are generally quite small

In in some countries the local and/or national calls are free,i.e. included in the monthly rental.

Libya, Qatar and UAE

In some countries there are several tariff options available, with

different call charges and fixed charges. This analysis is based on theso called basic packages.

Ratios of national to international call prices indicate that rebalancingof call charges has not yet taken place in many countries of the region

Page 49

M i fi di f th b h ki t d


50/52

Main findings from the benchmarking study

xe vo ce te ep ony Prices are on average higher in Arab countries than in OECD countries There is a wide spread of price levels between the Arab countries Rates are not rebalanced, with low fixed and high usage costs Es eciall the international call char es are hi her than in OECD countries Prices have gone down over the last year in some countries The lack of rebalancing will make it difficult for the incumbent operators to perform in a

competitive market

Mobile telephony r ce eve s n mos ra coun r es compare we w coun r es, espec a y or ow an

medium usage Rather uniform prices through the region Many countries have reduced prices over the last year

Leased Lines Prices for high speed circuits are generally higher than in OECD countries There is a wide spread of prices between the Arab countries

Broadband Price levels are significantly higher in Arab countries than in Europe ,

and prices increase rapidly with speed. The higher rates will inhibit broadband penetration Higher speeds are available in more countries than a year ago

Generally prices in Arab countries have gone down, most with Broadband services. But

Page 50

s nce pr ces ave gone own n o er par s o e wor as we e gap e ween pr cesin Arab countries and prices in OECD / European countries remains.

Reference information


51/52

Reference information

Exchange rates and VAT

Related to: US$ US$ PPP % Currency

Algeria 0.014370 0.028740 17.0 % DZD

Bahrain 2.667600 4.041818 0.0 % BHD

. . .

Djibouti 0.005791 0.012065 19.0 % DJF

Egypt 0.182200 0.650714 10.0 % EGP

Iraq 1.000000 2.631579 0.0 % USDxJordan 1.422900 2.635000 16.0 % JOD

Kuwait 3.469200 4.752329 0.0 % KWD

Lebanon 0.000677 0.001208 10.0 % LBP

Libya 0.798700 1.996750 0.0 % LYD

Mauritania 0.003973 0.010738 0.0 % MRO

Morocco 0.116900 0.212545 20.0 % MAD

Oman 2.604500 4.340833 0.0 % OMR

Palestine 0.246500 1.232500 0.0 % ILS

Qatar 0.274900 0.366533 0.0 % QARau ra a . . .

Somalia 0.000730 0.002432 0.0 % SOS

Sudan 0.456600 1.037727 10.0 % SDG

Syria 0.021640 0.056947 0.0 % SYP

Tunisia 0.708900 1.575333 18.0 % TND

UAE 0.272400 0.363200 0.0 % AED

Yemen 0.005007 0.013908 10.0 % YER

Prices for services in Iraq are given in US$

Exchange rates taken from the Oanda web service on the 2 February 2009.

Page 51

, .

Acronyms used in the context of this report


52/52

Acronyms used in the context of this report

OECD: Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development

OECD countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium,

Service: A telecommunications service

Basket: A theoretical usage profile describingthe usage volumes across different types ofcalls. The basket shall include all im ortant, ., , ,

France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland,Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg,Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway,Poland, Portugal, Slovak Rep., Spain,

elements of the service, including fixed costelements.

Tariff: The description of all the end userprices related to a service

, , , ,

VAT: Value Added Tax, a consumption taxsystem used in most European countries andsome Arab countries.

the price(s) for a single type of call or service.

Basket calculation: The process where theBasket is applied to the individual tariff in

order to calculate the cost of the individual,rates adjusted for the purchasing power ofconsumers in each country. Used ininternational comparisons to adjust for marketdifferences. This study uses data from the

ar e emen s an e overa cos .

Basket result: The cost of using the service asdescribed in the Basket.

Re-balancing: The process through which theprices of individual Tariff elements will cover.

CPL: Comparative Price level. The relativefactor between market exchange rates andPPP. Used to calculate the PPPs from currentmarket exchange rates.

their own cost, and not subsidise other Tariff

elements.

Page 52

price bench marking for arab countries 2009

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