UAE telecom subscribers totalled 21.9 million by end of 2020

The number of telecom subscribers in the UAE, including mobile phones, landlines and Internet, grew to 21.929 million by the end of 2020.

An increase in the number of mobile phone subscribers to 16.820 million by December end from 16.707 million in November was recorded, at a spread rate of 186.1 lines per 100 people, with mobile subscriptions accounting for 76.2 percent of the total subscription base, statistics released by the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority suggest.

Pre-paid mobile phone subscriptions totalled 13.178 million by end of December, while post-paid mobile phone subscriptions stood at 3.641 million for the same month.

Landline subscriptions too increased to 2.128 million. However, the total number of internet subscriptions stood at 2.98 million, official news agency WAM reported.

Read: UAE operators Etisalat, du raise foreign ownership to 49%

In January, Etisalat increased the foreign ownership cap from 20 per cent to 49 per cent. Etisalat first opened up to foreign ownership in 2015 with a 20 per cent limit. At the time of notifying the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange of the increase in its foreign ownership cap, foreigners owned only 4.8 per cent of Etisalat’s shares.

Both UAE operators Etisalat and du will also rely on the Al Etihad Credit Bureau (AECB’s) Credit Reports and Scores more heavily when onboarding postpaid customers.

Read: Etisalat, du to rely more heavily on UAE credit rating score for new postpaid customers