Internet of things (IoT)
Regulators in five countries (Egypt, Jordan, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates) have established a specific regulatory framework for IoT. In other countries, there are often no specific rules applying to IoT services, which are subject only to the normal telecoms and spectrum licensing framework.
The permanent roaming of IoT devices is now subject to regulatory requirements in Egypt, while Oman requires that all resources used in an IoT system including SIM cards should be national. The provision of IoT services in both countries is subject to a licence, a permission, or an authorisation.

5G
Commercial 5G networks were launched in six MENA countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and UAE), between 2018 and 2020.
Qatar requires mobile operators to rollout coverage for all mobile users with a 5G network capable of providing a minimum download speed of 100 Mbps by December 2024.

Find details on these and many other regulatory topics from 13 MENA countries in the latest update of our MENA Telecoms benchmarks!
Simply click on “Access the full content” - or on “Request Access”, in case you are not subscribed to our MENA Telecoms service.
more news
29 October 25
To Space and beyond – part II: Regulating and licensing the terrestrial part of satellite systems in the Americas
Our new satellite benchmark on requirements for fixed earth stations licensing in the Americas summarises the key regulatory procedures and identifies the relevant government authorities.
27 October 25
Global trends in cloud regulation
Our latest Global Trends benchmark provides key insights on current practices in each of 14 jurisdictions around the world on: (1) data localization requirements, (2) cross-border personal data transfers, including across specified sectors, and (3) the main rules applicable to data centres and cloud service providers.
24 October 25
How are EU member states transposing NIS2?
Our benchmark tracks the transposition status of the directive on measures for a high common level of cybersecurity across the EU (NIS2) in the 27 member states. 15 countries adopted national legislation to transpose NIS2.