Greater competition is evident in Middle Eastern Telecommunication's market

There is a wide disparity in telecommunications development in the Middle East region, ranging from Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which have levels of Internet and mobile use not dissimilar to those in Western Europe, to Iran, Syria and Yemen where levels are below Sri Lanka or Vietnam. Some of this disparity is caused by differing economic circumstances but political and social attitudes, corruption levels and economic openness also play a part.

Research and Markets announces the addition of the 2003 Middle East Telecoms and Information Highways report to its offerings.

There is a wide disparity in telecommunications development in the Middle East region, ranging from Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which have levels of Internet and mobile use not dissimilar to those in Western Europe, to Iran, Syria and Yemen where levels are below Sri Lanka or Vietnam. Some of this disparity is caused by differing economic circumstances but political and social attitudes, corruption levels and economic openness also play a part. This report found that mobile use has been the fastest growing area of telecommunications with regional growth rates around 50% during 2002.

A feature of the Arab countries is a growing tendency for operators to have interests across the region. This has long been the case in the TV market, where both free-to-air and pay TV Direct-to-Home (DTH) satellite operators have footprints covering all countries and have their headquarters and production offices in countries other than those of their chief investors. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and Internet portal operators have also spread across the region. A more recent trend is the regional investment by Kuwaits two mobile operators, MTC and Wataniya.

There are signs of greater openness in the industry across the region but change is coming slowly. Several countries are moving towards greater competition in the industry and to privatisation of government owned operators but mostly at a glacial pace.

This report provides information on the Telecommunications markets of Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. Each country is represented by its own chapter, comprehensively covering the key areas of interest including Key trends in each market and a market overview. The current regulatory environment is also examined. Information on each market covers the Major fixed network operators,the Telecommunications infrastructure, Public data communications services, internet, Broadband networks and services , Content and e-Services, Wireless communications and Broadcasting.

For a complete index of this report click on http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/41647

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