Telecom subscriber base reached 23.36 million by end of last July

ABU DHABI, 21st September, 2017 (WAM) -- The number of telecom subscribers reached 23.36 million by the end of last July, registering an increase of 42,000 compared to the same period last year, during which the number reached around 23.318 million. The analysis of the data issued by the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, TRA, to monitor the "mobile phone – landline – Internet" services, shows that last July witnessed a surge in mobile phone subscribers with the number reaching 19.752 million, compared to 19.711 million in the same period in 2015. The registered increase in the number of mobile phone subscribers contributed to raising the spread of the service to 226.4 lines per 100 people during the month of July one of the highest percentages in the world according to the indexes issued by many international organisations specialised in studying the telecommunications sector. The mobile phone service with a prepaid plan is still the main driver for activity in the telecommunication sector in general. The number of subscribers in this sector rose to 16.495 million by the end of July, in comparison to 16.428 million in June 2015. In comparison, the number of mobile phone subscribers with billing plans decreased from 3.282 million in June to 3.257 million in July, according to the statistics of the TRA. The number of subscribers to the landline service remained stable continuing at 2.288 million in July, which is approximately the same level registered in the previous month, and the service reached 26.2 lines per 100 people. The number of Internet subscribers also continued at 1.315 million at the end of July, which is approximately the same figure registered in June. The spread of broadband Internet reached 15.1 lines per 100 subscribers.