Research and Markets Adds Report: Qatar Telecommunications Report Q2 2011.(Report)

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Qatar Telecommunications Report Q2 2011" report to its offerings.

In a release, Research and Markets noted that report highlights include:

The Qatar Telecommunications Report provides industry professionals and strategists, corporate analysts, telecommunication associations, government departments and regulatory bodies with independent forecasts and competitive intelligence on Qatar's telecommunications industry.

The Q211 update on the Qatar telecoms market incorporates data from fixed line incumbent operator Qatar Telecom (Qtel) and alternative operator Vodafone Qatar, a subsidiary of UK-based Vodafone Group Plc, for the 12 months to December 31 2010. Our latest five-year forecasts for the country's mobile, fixed-line and internet sectors, which extend to 2015, is based on recent developments in Qatar's telecoms sector, as well as our view of the country's macroeconomic environment during the next five years.

Qatar's mobile market grew by 11.7 percent in 2010 (46.9 percent in 2009) to reach 2.763mn subscribers. This represented a market penetration of 183 percent. The report notes that overall subscriber growth in 2010 was tempered by successive quarterly subscriber losses in the second half of the year by market leader Qtel. The analyst attributes subscriber losses by Qtel to the disconnection of inactive lines and fewer subscriber uptakes on the back of increased competition in the market. Second operator Vodafone produced another strong performance in the fourth quarter of 2010 to take its customer base above the 700,000 subscriber mark two years earlier than it previously anticipated.

Qtel reported a 9.5 percent y-o-y decline in mobile revenues for the 12 months to December 2010 due to intense price competition in the mobile sector. Mobile tariffs have been declining since early 2009 following the entry of Vodafone into the mobile market. Vodafone adopted a value-led strategy to build its subscriber base, while Qtel responded with a similar strategy to defend its market share. Meanwhile, in May 2010 Qtel and UK-based Virgin Mobile signed a brand licensing to offer prepaid mobile services under the brand Qatar Virgin Mobile Service (QVMS). The service targeted young consumers with low prepaid tariffs, further adding pressure mobile ARPUs.

Report information:

http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/719f62/qatar_telecommunic

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