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Kuwait’s third mobile operator launches – Viva

Kuwait Telecom Company (KTC), branded Viva, has launched services as Kuwait’s third mobile operator. Whereas new operators have been launching all over the Middle East in the past few years, it is a long time since a mobile operator launched in Kuwait as it was unusually early in introducing competition to its mobile market.

Mobile Telecommunications Co (now branded as Zain) was established in 1983. Mobile services began in 1986. A second mobile licence was awarded in 1997 to National Mobile Telecommunications Company (Wataniya Telecom), now 51% owned by Qtel of Qatar. The government, through the Kuwait Investment Authority, owns a 24% share in each operator.

Kuwaiti government institutions will also own a 24% share of KTC. A further 26% share is owned by STC, incumbent telco of Saudi Arabia. The remaining 50% share was offered in an IPO, available only to Kuwaiti citizens, beginning in August 2008. A flotation on the Kuwait Stock Exchange is expected later.

Whilst KTC is facing two very formidable competitors in Zain and Wataniya, the Kuwaiti market is not as saturated as most others in the GCC region, with penetration variously stated as between 80% and 100% in early 2008. (Penetration statistics in all the smaller Gulf countries are very fuzzy due to the very large and fluid expat populations). ARPU is also very high in Kuwait, with Zain giving a figure of US$69 in March 2008.

See also: Kuwait – Telecoms Market Overview & Statistics.

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This entry was posted on Friday, September 19th, 2008 at 10:00 am and is filed under News & Views. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.