New research reveals a wide disparity in SMS rates across the Arab region. Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c21251) outlines these findings in their new report on SMS & MMS Rates and Services in the Arab World.
According to the report, SMS, which is widely deployed and used, is priced quite differently from country to country. Sudan and Palestine have the lowest SMS rates, while Morocco and Lebanon have the highest. The report covers 34 cellular operators in 18 countries including: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, UAE and Yemen. The report also analyzes the SMS-based value added services and service providers in the region.
The analysis shows that the average rate of national SMS for the studied Arab cellular operators is $ 0.088 for prepaid and $ 0.074 for postpaid subscriptions, while the average rate of international SMS stands at $ 0.179 for prepaid compared to $0.156 for postpaid subscriptions. International SMS rate is, on average, double the rate of national SMS for both prepaid and postpaid subscriptions.
The report also reveals that Sudan’s cellular operator, Mobitel, has the lowest rate for national prepaid and postpaid SMS at $ 0.022. Libya’s cellular operator, Al-Madar, has the lowest rate for international prepaid and postpaid SMS at $0.040. Lebanon and Morocco lie at the other end with the highest SMS rates in the region. Lebanon’s cellular operator, Alfa (previously Cellis), has the highest rates for national prepaid and postpaid SMS, which are $0.270 and $0.220 respectively. Both cellular operators in Morocco, Maroc Telecom and Medi Telecom, have the same rates for international SMS, the highest in the region, which are $0.571 for both prepaid and postpaid subscriptions.