Over 11 per cent of mobile phone users in Kuwait have more than one line, says a study.

The study by Arab Advisors Group calculates that with 11.24 per cent of cellular users having more than one line, Kuwait’s effective mobile penetration is 72.9 per cent by mid 2007, 9 percentage points lower than the conventional mobile penetration rate of 82 per cent by mid 2007.

The survey fieldwork was conducted between August and September 2007 and the survey was concluded on September 21.

The survey report, Kuwait Cellular Users Survey 2007, has 259 detailed exhibits and 158 pages.

“Based on the trend of the same individual owning multiple lines, the Arab Advisors Group introduced the Effective Mobile Penetration Rate. It considers the percentage of individuals with one or more mobile lines and is calculated by dividing the number of the estimated individual mobile users (and not mobile lines) by the estimated actual population figure,” Jawad Abbassi, founder and general manager of Arab Advisors Group said.

According to Kuwait’s operators’ published figures, Kuwait’s mobile market had 2.62 million lines by end of H1 2007. Hence, the mobile penetration rate (defined as number of lines divided by the population figure) stood at 82 per cent. With 11.24 per cent of cellular users in Kuwait using two lines, the number of individual mobile subscribers in Kuwait is estimated at 2.3 million subscribers by end of H1 2007.

“The Arab Advisors Group calculates the Effective Mobile Penetration rate (% of individuals with one or more mobile lines) to be around 72.9 per cent. The survey results reveal that the ratio of multiple line ownership in Kuwait is much lower than it is in Saudi Arabia or Jordan. This –the Arab Advisors Group believes- is explained by the fact that the duopoly competition in Kuwait is less intense than the competition in Jordan or Saudi Arabia. With cost savings and leveraging operator promotions being a major factor behind multiple line ownership, the steady duopoly situation in Kuwait seems to offer less incentive to have multiple lines than the intense competition in a country like Jordan,” Andrawes Snobar, Arab Advisors senior research analyst and team leader wrote in the survey report.

On the e-commerce front, Kuwait’s e-commerce users reported a preference for payments through credit cards with 72.3 per cent of e-commerce users reporting credit cards as their e-commerce method of payment. 

Arab Advisors Group’s major analytical survey of Kuwait’s main governorates’ population was scientifically done.  The survey involved face-to-face interviews with 605 respondents from different households in Kuwait the Capital, Hawalli, Al Jahra, Al Ahmadi, Al Farwaniyah, and Mubarak Al Kabeer, selected randomly in a manner proportionate to the estimated population size of these areas. Respondents were 15 years old and above, and were cellular service users.

The random survey has a 99 per cent confidence level with a less than 6 per cent margin of error, it said.

The survey report can be purchased from the Arab Advisors Group for $3,750 for subscribers to Arab Advisors Strategic Research Services. Non-subscribers can order the report for $5,000, the group said. -TradeArabia News Service