Cullen International’s latest regulatory update covering six Middle Eastern and North African countries sheds light on the major developments between January and April 2022.

Some of the highlights include:

• The Algerian regulator ordered mobile operators to comply with coverage and quality of service obligations. Egypt granted Orange spectrum in the 2.6 GHz band, while the Saudi regulator consulted on upcoming spectrum auctions.
• Oman set out operator requirements to respond to network outages, including reporting, notifying customers and the timeframe to restore services.
• Algeria wants the charges for mobile number portability to be reasonable and affordable. Turkey increased retail tariff caps for mobile services.
• Morocco increased the level of price caps for mobile termination rates, while Saudi Arabia cut the SMS termination rate by a third. The Turkish regulator approved higher fees for wholesale broadband access in response to inflation.
• Algeria updated general authorisation requirements. Saudi Arabia consulted on an updated IoT regulation while Zain sold an 80% share in its mobile towers network. The Turkish government acquired a majority stake in Turk Telecom.

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