Regulators in several Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) countries adopted measures to cope with the increasing demand for communications services during the lockdown period introduced during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Only two countries announced an increasing demand for data. In Jordan, data traffic over the 4G network increased by 31%, while Saudi Arabia announced a 33% increase in data traffic over fixed and mobile networks.
Regulators in Jordan, Oman and Saudi Arabia granted telecoms operators additional spectrum to increase network capacity.
In five countries, regulators requested operators to provide free internet packages and to offer free of charge the use of e-learning and healthcare platforms. In Egypt, the state bore the cost of the additional packages and free browsing.
Many telecoms operators in the region also took initiatives themselves, such as increasing internet speeds, providing free browsing for specific websites, adding additional packages, and raising awareness about COVID-19.
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