Increasing Broadband Internet Penetration

In the OIC Member Countries

international expansion aimed at positioning the operator as a strategic rather than financial

investor and to focus on investments which provide EG with operational influence over its

assets. It is expected that the operator continue reinforcing its presence in core markets and

regions internationally. In parallel with its international expansion, the operator is aiming at

deploying new digital services such as e-Commerce platforms, M2M and Cloud solutions across

its international footprint. The product strategy is driven by a central Digital Services Unit.

This is emblematic of a strategy aimed at leveraging scale across the Group.

Headquartered in Kuwait, the Zain Group is present in the mobile broadband segment in eight

OIC Member Countries, serving 45.6 million customers, and employing 6,700 employees. With

US$ 3.8 billion in revenues and 44.7% in EBITDA margin, Zain’s porfolio of subsidiaries

comprises a mix of fully owned operations (Kuwait, Sudan, and South Sudan), partially owned

with operational control (Jordan, Iraq, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia), and financial investment

and/or management contracts (Morocco, and Lebanon). The carrier has been consistently

increasing its capital spending oriented toward deploying broadband LTE networks in Kuwait,

Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain, and Lebanon.

Bharti Airtel, headquartered in India, is a mobile broadband provider present in eight OIC

Member Countries, all in Africa. The operator has been actively deploying new services, such

as mobile money (Airtel Money), One touch Internet, Wynk Music Video and Games. At the

same time, the operator has launched a 4G network in Gabon. The operator has a total of

15,406,000 data customers across its 3G and 4G networks in Africa. The review of global

operators’ deployment and product strategies indicates a common approach, predicated on

five strategies:

•

Expand across the OIC Member Countries based primarily on investment that grants

operational control,

•

Leverage global scale in product development, brand equity, and synergies in best

practices and expertise,

•

Consolidate positions in markets where they are either 1 or 2,

•

Gradually migrate to 4G technology and FTTH (further to the home) only in selected

markets, and

•

Launch product strategies around digital products (mobile money, e-commerce, digital

music).

IV. 2. Broadband Demand in the OIC Member Countries

Thirty-one percent of individuals residing in the OIC Member Countries access the Internet on

a regular basis. Internet penetration has been growing at a fast pace since 2008 when the gap

between these states and OECD countries has begun to narrow down (see figure 21).