JEDDAH: The Kingdom’s mobile subscriber base has fallen by a tenth in two years following a crackdown on illegals, reduced quotas for pilgrims and stricter phone registration requirements, Reuters has reported quoting data from the industry regulator.

The drop to 51 million subscriptions as of Sept. 30, 2013, the most recently available data, from 56.1 million two years earlier marks the end of a remarkable growth phase that led the country to claim one of highest proliferations of mobile phones globally.

Around 1.5 million expat workers, out of roughly 9 million, are estimated to have left the Kingdom from March to November 2013 following the labor action.

“The clampdown on illegal workers will have had some effect on operators’ earnings as people leave the country, but it’s likely these were among the lower spending customers,” said Martin Mabbutt, a telecom analyst at HSBC in London.

“We don’t know how far through the government is in terms of its drive to remove illegal immigrants from the country.”

As the smallest operator, Zain Saudi was most vulnerable to the labor crackdown, analysts said.

Mobily posted an 8.6 percent rise in fourth-quarter profit, its weakest quarterly profit increase since 2011 and second-weakest quarter since the company broke even in 2006, Reuters data shows.