Transcript Document

Mobile International
Roaming
among Arab Countries
Economic Department, NTRA
January, 2006
AGENDA







Introduction
Objectives
Mobile Roaming Market Size
Roaming Pricing Components
Customers Perspective
Regulation
Suggested Solutions
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Introduction
ITU-Arab Region Office - (Jan 2004)
http://www.ituarabic.org/
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Introduction
Egypt

Egypt's telecommunications (Fixed and Mobile)
market is one of the largest growing markets in
the Middle East and Africa, with an estimated
total revenue of LE 16.5 billion in the year 2004.

Mobile-phone provision had risen to 13 m lines
by November 2005, from only 83,000 lines in
1997.

In terms of mobile penetration, Egypt in 2005
stood at 18.5%.
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Objectives
Our goal is to review :
High roaming prices in the Arab countries

State
the desired
Players
in the Arab mobile market
objective
Solutions for uncompetitive prices
Regulatory actions to end excessive
charges for international mobile
roaming
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How did we do it?
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Collection & Filtering of Data
Analyzing &
Depicting of Data
Comments & Explanation
of Data
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Mobile Market Size
There are 22 Arab countries that include
45 mobile operators
 2 Counties including Comoros and
Somalia didn’t declare any roaming
agreements
 Due to lack of Data comparisons were
held on 7 countries:
- In Local Roaming Calls Analysis: 8 Arab Mobile

operators in 5 countries including Bahrain, Egypt,
Kuwait, Lebanon, and Yemen
- In International Outgoing Roaming Calls Analysis:
10 Arab Mobile operators in 6 countries including
Bahrain, Egypt, Jordon, Kuwait, Lebanon, and
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UAE
Scope of study

Study includes 2 types of International
roaming:
- International calls to persons in other Arab
countries made while roaming abroad
- Domestic (local) calls made to persons in
the country of the visited network while
roaming abroad.
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First: International Roamed
Call Prices:

An international roamed call is a call made by a
subscriber roaming on a visited network to
someone in another country. The called person may
be a subscriber on the same home mobile network
as the calling person , or a fixed network
subscriber.

Analysis is for International Outgoing call to home
country.
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$1.00
http://www.mtc-vodafone.com.bh/
MTC Touch MIC
2
Mobilecom
Fast link
10
Tunsiana
Etisalat
STC
Syriatel
Spacetel S
Mobily(Etihad Etisalat)
Q-Tel
Nawras
Medi telecom
Iam(Maroc Telecom)
MTC K
Atheer
Asiacell
Mobinil
$1.50
Mobilis/ATM
Djezzy
International Roaming Prices on MTC Vodafone - Bahrain
$2.50
Iraqna
$2.00
Spacetel Y
$0.50
$0.00
7/6/2015
http://www.mobinil.com
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http://www.vodafone.com.eg
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$0.85
http://www.mobilecom.jo
Mattel
$0.90
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$0.80
$0.75
$0.70
7/6/2015
Spacetel Y
Sabafon
Etisalat
Tunicell
Tunsiana
Syriatel
Spacetel S
MobiTel
STC
Q-Tel
Paltel
Omantel
Medi telecom
Iam(Maroc Telecom)
Wataniya
MTC K
Iraqna
Asiacell
Vodafone
Mobinil
MTC-Vodafone B
Batelco
Mobilis/ATM
Djezzy
Int'l Roaming Prices on Mobilecom - Jordon
$1.00
$0.95
Batelco
$1.00
Omantel
Syriatel Tunicell
Q-Tel STC
$0.50
$0.00
Wataniya to Kuw ait
http://www.wataniya.com
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Spacetel Y
$1.50
Iam(Maroc Telecom)
$2.00
Paltel
Etisalat
Al-Madar
MTC Touch MIC
2
Fast link
Asiacell
WTA(Nedjma)
Mobinil
$2.50
Vodafone
International Roaming Prices on Wataniya Kuwait
http://www.mtc.com.kw
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International Roaming Prices on MTC Touch Lebanon
$0.60
$0.50
$0.40
$0.30
$0.20
$0.10
$0.00
MTC Touch
MTC-Vodafone B
Mobinil
Vodafone
http://www.mtctouch.com.lb
Asiacell
Fast link
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MobiTel
Tunsiana
7/6/2015
$1.50
$1.00
http://www.alpha.com.lb
Iraqna
Mobilecom
Omantel
Medi telecom
Iam(Maroc Telecom)
Wataniya
MTC K
Umniah
Vodafone
Mobinil
Asiacell
Fast link
Nawras
Express
$2.00
MTC-Vodafone B
Batelco
$2.50
Mobilis/ATM
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Etisalat
Tunicell
$0.50
$0.00
Alpha
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Spacetel Y
Sabafon
Tunsiana
Syriatel
Spacetel S
MobiTel
Mobily(Etihad Etisalat)
Q-Tel
STC
$3.00
Djezzy
International Roaming Prices on Alpha Lebanon
$3.50
$0.40
http://www.etisalat.com.ae
Mobily(Etihad Etisalat)
MTC K
Iraqna
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STC
Q-Tel
Etisalat
7/6/2015
Spacetel Y
Sabafon
Syriatel
Spacetel S
MobiTel
Nawras
Omantel
Mauritel
Mattel
Al-Madar
Wataniya
$0.60
Medi telecom
Vodafone
Mobinil
Asiacell
Batelco
$1.00
Iam(Maroc Telecom)
MTC-Vodafone B
$0.00
WTA(Nedjma)
$0.20
Mobilis/ATM
$0.80
Djezzy
International Roaming Prices on Etisalat UAE
$1.20
$1.00
http://www.sabafon.com
Wataniya
MTC K
Mobilecom
Fast link
$0.50
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$0.00
Sabafone
7/6/2015
Etisalat
Tunicell
Tunsiana
Syriatel
STC
Mobily(Etihad Etisalat)
Q-Tel
Nawras
Omantel
MobiTel
Medi telecom
Asiacell
Vodafone
Mobinil
MTC-Vodafone B
Batelco
$2.00
Iam(Maroc Telecom)
Express
$1.50
Mobilis/ATM
$2.50
Djezzy
Internatioal Roaming Prices on Sabafon Yemen
$3.00
Second: Local Roamed Call
Prices:
A local roamed call is a call made by a
subscriber roaming on a visited network to
another person in the country of the visited
network.
 The called person may be:
-A mobile subscriber of the visited network
-A mobile subscriber on another licensed
mobile network in the same country
- A fixed network subscriber in the same
country

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Lo
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$
Batelco
2.00
1.50
1.00
0.50
0.00
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US$
MTC Bahrain
0.70
0.60
0.50
0.40
0.30
0.20
0.10
0.00
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Sa
23
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US $
Mobinil
1.20
1.00
0.80
0.60
0.40
0.20
0.00
7/6/2015
Sa
24
on
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a
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Lb
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Lb
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Ym
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TC
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Lo
US $
Vodafone EG
1.20
1.00
0.80
0.60
0.40
0.20
0.00
7/6/2015
on
Sa
25
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Lb
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Lb
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TC
Lo
US $
Fast link Jordan
1.20
1.00
0.80
0.60
0.40
0.20
0.00
7/6/2015
MTC Kuwait
0.30
0.25
US $
0.20
0.15
0.10
0.05
0.00
Local
Mobinil Vodafone
EG
EG
MTC
Touch
Lbn
26
Alpha
Lbn
Sabafone
Ymn
7/6/2015
Sa
27
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a
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Ym
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Lb
Eg
Lb
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Al
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To
da
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TC
Vo
M
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Lo
US $
Wataniya Kuwait
0.35
0.30
0.25
0.20
0.15
0.10
0.05
0.00
7/6/2015
on
Sa
28
on
e
a
Lb
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Lb
Kw
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Bh
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M
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da
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Vo
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M
TC
Lo
US $
IAM/Maroc
1.20
1.00
0.80
0.60
0.40
0.20
0.00
7/6/2015
on
Sa
29
on
e
a
Lb
n
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Lb
Kw
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Kw
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Eg
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iy
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M
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da
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Vo
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Lo
US $
Omantel
0.60
0.50
0.40
0.30
0.20
0.10
0.00
7/6/2015
on
Sa
30
on
e
a
Lb
n
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Lb
Kw
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Kw
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Eg
Ym
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iy
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M
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Vo
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Lo
US $
Q-Tel
0.60
0.50
0.40
0.30
0.20
0.10
0.00
7/6/2015
ca
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Lb
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ph
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Sa
Lb
ba
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Ym
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Lo
US $
STC Saudi
0.60
0.50
0.40
0.30
0.20
0.10
0.00
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Sa
32
on
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Lb
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Vo
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Lo
US $
MobiTel Sudan
0.70
0.60
0.50
0.40
0.30
0.20
0.10
0.00
7/6/2015
Vo
on
Sa
33
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US $
Tunisie Telecom(Tunicell)
4.00
3.50
3.00
2.50
2.00
1.50
1.00
0.50
0.00
7/6/2015
on
Sa
34
on
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a
Lb
n
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Lb
Kw
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Kw
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iya
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Vo
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Lo
US $
Etisalat UAE
0.60
0.50
0.40
0.30
0.20
0.10
0.00
7/6/2015
Sabafon Yemen
0.35
0.30
US $
0.25
0.20
0.15
0.10
0.05
0.00
Local
Mobinil Eg
Vodafone MTC Touch Alpha Lbn
Eg
Lbn
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Roaming Pricing Components
Wholesale pricing
vs.
Retail pricing (End-users)
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First: Wholesale roaming:
Inter Operator Tariff (IOT)
1. Mobile originated calls
2. Mobile terminated calls
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Inter Operator Tariff (IOT)

Definition

Application
Duration

Changes in IOT
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1. Mobile originated calls
Charged by who?
VNW
 Pricing Factors:
- Destination
- Timing
- Unit
- Terminated NW
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2. Mobile terminated calls


Charged by who?
VNW
Pricing Factors
(Free as incoming
roaming is usually
zero priced)
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Second: Retail roaming:
1. Mobile originated calls
2. Mobile terminated calls
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1. Mobile originated calls
Who charges it?
HNW
 On what basis?
(IOT+ Handling
Charges)
 Who pays for it?
Calling PP

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2. Mobile terminated calls
Who charges it? HNW
 On what basis? IOT
 Who pays for it?
Calling PP local rate vs. Called PP
pays for roaming part of the call

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Customers Perspective

Prices charged for mobile users are
unsatisfactory .

Hardly anybody knows the details of the
different roaming charges and they can
be very difficult to find. They are also
changed frequently.

The prices differences between different
networks are vast, even within the same
country.
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Regulation
we conclude that causes of high charges are :





Absence of real competition
Absence of regulation of roaming
Strong disincentive on operators to
negotiate lower prices
Fragmented nature of the market reducing
the purchasing power of users
B.T.E. facing alternative operators
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Questions & Surveys

There are questions that need to be
answered by the operators to home
regulators:
-Subscribers' roaming traffic volume (minutes of
usage)
-Routes of Calls ( to which roaming partners)
- Price trends in the period of 1998-2005
- Roaming subscribers segmented into prepaid and
postpaid
* Only then regulators can make the
necessary studies and forecasts.
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Benefits of the Study




Targeted Free Competition among the
operators
Lower Prices offered to customers
More Cooperation among the Arab
regulators for the sake of mobile users
Encouraging attractive Roaming price
offers for Prepaid customers.
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Suggested Solutions

Improving Public Awareness: Launch a
section on ARNET website on roaming
prices in the Arab region.

To be updated every 6 months supported
by regulatory bodies in the Arab world, for
transparency and awareness reasons.

Each Regulator review IOT of its home
country operators, to ensure fairness and
consumer welfare.
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
Both IOT and retail share the same bulk of
costs (mobile access and core network).

IOT has extra cost not applicable for retail.

Retail has extra cost not applicable for IOT

Both IOT and ‘Retail of Visited NW’ should
be the same.
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Proposed solution

A regulated imposed inter-Arab IOT rate
(regulation driven)

Volume-Rate tradeoff deals using the OTA
technology (competition driven)

Enabling the Optimized Routing and billing
users accordingly (fairness driven)
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References
http://www.gsmworld.com/index.shtml
http://www.ituarabic.org/
http://www.mobinil.com
http://www.vodafone.com.eg
http://www.wataniya.com
http://www.batelco.com.bh/
http://www.mtc-vodafone.com.bh/
http://www.etisalat.co.ae
http://www.spacetelyemen.com/
http://www.mtctouch.com.lb
http://www.mobilecom.jo
http://www.mtc.com.kw/
http://www.alfa.com.lb
http://www.sabafon.com
Tariffica CD 2004
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Questions &
Comments
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Thank You
January, 2006