Mobile phone users down in July

The number of mobile phone users in the UAE shrank by more than 59,000 in July and most of the decline was in pre-paid GSM subscribers, according to the country’s telecommunications regulators.

At the end of July, the total number of GSM subscribers in Etisalat and Du, the UAE’s two mobile phone service providers, stood at 11.1 million, down by nearly 59,000 from their number at the end of June, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) said in a report carried by Alittihad daily.

The report showed pre-paid users declined by nearly 72,000 to 9.82 million at the end of July while fixed-bill subscribers increased by nearly 12,600 to peak at around 1.297 million. Land line subscribers also increased by 7,584 to nearly 1.752 million at the end of July.

The decline in GSM users depressed the mobile phone penetration rate in the UAE to 193.8 per cent at the end of July from 195.8 per cent at the end of June.

The report showed internet users declined to around 1.335 million at the end of July from 1.34 million at the end of June.

The report said the decline was a result of a sharp rise in the number of users of smart phones, which have largely mushroomed in the UAE in the past two years.

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