10 Arab countries now have IPTV services

Monday, July 4th, 2016
Arab Advisors logo

IPTV services are offered in 10 Arab countries

By May 2016, fourteen service providers in ten countries in the Arab World offered IPTV services. Arab Advisors Group’s analysis revealed that GCC countries had the largest number of IPTV providers in the region.

A new report from Arab Advisors Group overviews the IPTV services in the Arab world by May 2016. IPTV is in its initial stage of penetration in the Arab World, and is still developing. Fourteen service providers in ten countries in the MENA region offer IPTV services. These countries are: Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Reportedly, there are ongoing or planned projects by service providers and/or governments in seven other countries, with the aim to upgrade the countries’ legacy networks and install fiber optics to facilitate offering services including IPTV in the near future. These countries are: Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Mauritania and Tunisia.

Moreover, there is a number of international and local broadcasting networks which offer Subscription-based VOD services for viewers in the Middle East and North Africa. These providers include: Starz Play, icflix, Istikana and Netflix.
A new report “IPTV in the Arab World 2016” was released to the Arab Advisors Group’s Media Strategic Research Service subscribers on June 23, 2016. This report can be purchased from the Arab Advisors Group for only US$ 1,400. The 115-page report, which has 76 detailed exhibits, provides a comprehensive analysis of the IPTV availability in the Arab world, IPTV service providers, their bundled packages and lists of the offered free to air and pay TV channels.

“By May 2016, there were fourteen service providers in ten countries in the Arab World offering commercial IPTV services. Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE had the largest number of IPTV providers with 2 providers each” Ms. Hiba Al Atiyat, Arab Advisors Senior Research Analyst wrote in the report.

“As broadband Internet expands in the Arab world, IPTV adoption is increasing. The competition among IPTV service providers within the same country drives its offered features into frequent upgrades, which makes the user’s TV viewing experience more interactive” Ms. Al Atiyat added.