Iraq replaces Jordan as the Arab World's most competitive cellular market

Jordan -which was the most competitive market in the 2007 and 2008 indexes- came in second.

The Arab Advisors Group devised the Cellular Competition Intensity Index in order to rate and properly assess the intensity level of competition in the Arab World's cellular markets.

The index takes into account the number of operators, packages, and services available in each of the 19 countries covered by the Arab Advisors Group in this report, with each category assigned a certain weight according to its importance as an indicator of competition. The categories include the following: Number of licensed and expected operators; number of working operators; market share of largest operator; number of current prepaid plans; number of current postpaid plans; availability of corporate offers; availability of 3G services and availability of operational ILD (International Long Distance) competition.

A new report, "Competition Levels in Arab Cellular Markets" was released to the Arab Advisors Group's Telecoms Strategic Research Service subscribers on July 28, 2009. This report can be purchased from the Arab Advisors Group for only US$ 950. The report ranks the Arab World countries according to their cellular competition intensity level, based on a methodological approach.

Any investment in this report will count towards an annual Strategic Research Service subscription should the service be acquired within three months from purchasing the report.

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The Cellular Competition Intensity Index results for 2009 revealed that Iraq tops the score -as the most competitive Arab market- with a 91.0% mark followed by Jordan (82.7%), Saudi Arabia (79.2%), Palestine (78.6%), Egypt (69.8%), Morocco (67.7%), Algeria (64.6%), Sudan (63.3%), Mauritania (61.3%), Yemen (57.6%), Bahrain (55.2%), Kuwait (54.4%), Tunisia (51.5%), UAE (50.2%), Oman (44.8%), Libya (35.7%), Syria (34.2%), Lebanon (33.6%), and finally Qatar (31.5%)

"Iraq's performance was excellent in the cellular competition intensity index, ranking first with a score as high as 91.0% and dethroning Jordan. There are five working operators in the country, three of which operate a national mobile license, while the remaining two are regional operators operating in the Kurdistan region. While Iraq's largest operator (Zain) has a substantial market share of more than 50%, Iraq's score benefited from the availability of corporate offers, operational ILD competition and 3G services."

Mr. Andrawes Snobar, Arab Advisors' Research Manager wrote in the report.

The Arab Advisors Group's team of analysts in the region has already produced 1,600 reports on the Arab World's communications, media and financial markets. The reports can be purchased individually or received through an annual subscription to Arab Advisors Group's Strategic Research Services (Media and Telecom). To date, Arab Advisors Group has served 545 global and regional companies by providing reliable research analysis and forecasts of Arab communications markets to these clients.