Abu Dhabi
Mobile phone subscribers in the UAE during the first half of the year increased by 2.4 per cent to 18.7 million compared to 18.26 million a year ago.
According to etisalat’s first-half financial statement, the number of subscribers increased to 10.5 million, a growth of three per cent against the same period last year. It holds 57.5 per cent of the total mobile phone service market.
In the meantime, the number of subscribers at du touched 8.2 million by the end of June, registering a growth of 1.23 per cent.
According to telecommunications analysts, mobile phone services represent the main source of returns for telecommunications service providers, accounting for 80 per cent of their total revenues, with their other services comprising the remaining part.
The total revenues of UAE telecommunications providers during the first half of the year reached Dh31.7 billion, Dh25.3 billion of which for etisalat and Dh6.42 billion for du.
The net profits achieved by the two companies hit Dh4.9 billion during the first half of the year, while the royalty charges for the same period stood at Dh4.2 billion, after the application of the new percentages enforced by the Ministry of Finance effective beginning of 2017.
