It is no secret that the Middle East region, and particularly the Gulf, is currently witnessing a boom in all economic sectors, primarily driven by the healthy state of oil and gas prices. Undoubtedly this is driving the heavy investment currently taking place in infrastructure and manufacturing and, the recent market corrections across the Gulf notwithstanding, the thirst among investors for equity in regional companies is almost unquenchable at the present time. However, the telecommunications sector across the entire Middle East and North Africa region is also witnessing unprecedented levels of investment and varied permutations of de-regulation and market liberalisation at the present time.
While high per capita disposable income is perhaps a factor in the investment being seen in some of the more penetrated markets such as Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), there is nevertheless a healthy consumer appetite even in lower income countries such as Jordan and Turkey. Effective business planning on the part of regional operators (particularly as witnessed in the mobile sector) has seen respectable average revenues per user by focusing on pre-paid or post-paid business as appropriate to the market conditions in any given location.
