The payphones market is stagnating in some Arab markets but is still growing in others. The GSM boom was disastrous for the payphone market in Jordan, for example, but was a major boon for the payphone market in Morocco.
According to a recent report by the Arab Advisors Group, Morocco has the highest number of installed payphones in the examined countries while the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has the highest payphone penetration. The report covers and analyzes the payphone markets in Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Tunisia, UAE, Syria, Algeria, Bahrain, Qatar and Jordan.
The advent of mobile phones has significantly reduced the popularity of payphones. Moreover, fixed line prepaid cards substitute the need for installing payphones. In Jordan, for example, the two payphone service companies, namely ALO and JPP, have shut down, while in Bahrain the payphones service is struggling. Egypt and Morocco, however, remain viable markets for payphone services.
As for Saudi Arabia, the influx of millions of pilgrims every year makes for an ideal context for payphone services in the Kingdom. In addition, the service seems to still have its client base in Algeria, Tunisia and Syria. In Syria a project for installing 8,000 new payphones is scheduled for 2005, but no offers have been submitted for the tender yet. As for Algeria, card-based payphones have been a recent addition to the market.
“Morocco is the Arab World’s leading payphone market, size and usage wise. The country is followed by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Tunisia, UAE, Syria, Algeria, Bahrain and Qatar,” Arab Advisors Group’s senior research analyst, Serene Zawaydeh said. “On the other extreme, lies Jordan, which has seen its two private payphone operators close down and currently has no payphone service to speak of,” Zawaydeh added.
“Morocco’s installed payphones base constitute 7.5 percent of mainlines. This high percentage of total mainlines is indicative of why the mainline service in Morocco has declined over the past years: Many Moroccans choose to receive calls on prepaid mobiles, and make calls using the neighborhood’s payphone booths,” Zawaydeh explained. “The UAE has the highest payphones penetration rate (0.76%) amongst the listed countries, and its payphones constituted 2.7 percent of total mainlines,” she concluded. — (menareport.com)
© 2004 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
