Mobile phone usage in the UAE increased until March to 228.3 phones per 100 people, according to the most recent statistics issued by the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), a report said.

The increase in the use of mobile phones in the UAE also saw an increase in the number of telecom subscribers in March 2017, by more than 132,000 new subscriptions compared to February, reported WAM, the Emirates official news agency.

This led to a jump in the total number of cumulative subscriptions to 19.835 million, it said.

The authority’s statistics highlight that the largest increase in subscriptions is in prepaid mobile phone services, which gained around 104,000 new subscriptions in March, while contract services increased by 28,000 subscriptions during the same period.

The continued growth in mobile phone services and the telecommunications sector reflects the overall development witnessed by the country during previous years, according to experts in this sector.

The UAE occupies the first position in the Arab region in terms of the readiness of its telecommunications networks, according to a study published by the World Economic Forum in 2016, and 26th position globally among 139 countries. The network readiness index measures the capacity of an economy to benefit from information and communication technology, to increase competitiveness and development.

The network readiness index in the report is based on information gathered by organisations, including the International Telecommunications Union, the World Bank, the United Nations and other international organisations.