Telecom — mobile and fixed services — revenues in the consumer and enterprise segment in Saudi Arabia fell 1 percent to $16.2 billion in 2014, said Pyramid Research.
The first decline in overall service revenue in the last decade is a result of promotional activity and Mobily’s restatement of financial results.
Mobily, the second largest telecom operator in the country, said its revenue declined 20 percent in 2014.
With $16.2 billion in services revenue, Saudi Arabia is the largest telecoms market in the MEA region in 2014, followed by South Africa with $13.4 billion and Turkey with $13 billion.
Pyramid Research said annual growth of the Saudi telecoms market will average 3 percent per year, reaching $18.7 billion by 2019.
“Operators have invested in upgrading network infrastructure and systems to handle growing data traffic volumes. The need in the short-term is for swift deployment of fiber connectivity in high demand areas such as Riyadh, Jeddah, Mecca, Medina and Al-Ahsa,” said Hussein Ahmed, analyst at Pyramid Research.
The report said enterprise adoption of new services is increasing. STC reported that revenue from its enterprise business unit grew 12 percent in 2014.
