89.8% of Lebanon’s GSM users report using SMS; amongst the young, SMS use increases to close to 96%.

December 16, 2007

A new Arab Advisors’ major survey of Lebanon’s cellular users provides insightful analysis into this idiosyncratic telecom market that is slated for liberalization and privatization. The survey found that 12.8% of Lebanon’s GSM users share their phone lines with other members of their families. This indicates pent-up demand for cellular services in Lebanon. This bodes well for the country’s mobile penetration which is below regional levels.

A new major survey of Lebanon’s cellular users was concluded by the Arab Advisors Group on December 15th, 2007. The survey report, Lebanon Cellular Users Survey December 2007- which has 255 detailed exhibits and 150 pages- provides the results of a major comprehensive survey of the cellular usage patterns and habits of the population in Lebanon. The survey fieldwork was conducted in November and December 2007. This survey report can be purchased from the Arab Advisors Group for only US$ 2,750 for subscribers to Arab Advisors Strategic Research Services. Non-Subscribers to Arab Advisors Groups Strategic Research Services can order the report for US$ 3,750. Please contact the Arab Advisors Group to get a copy of the report’s Table of Contents and the survey questions.

This face to face survey revealed that 37.8% of Lebanon’s urban cellular users do not use the Internet. This underlines the fact that the only way to reliably cover the cellular markets is through face to face surveys. Online surveys are suitable for analyzing Internet users and usage habits but remain inherently biased and non-indicative for more main stream markets such as cellular markets.” Mr. Jawad Abbassi, Founder and General Manager of Arab Advisors Group commented.

This survey provides deep insights into the telecom usage patterns in Lebanon. The random survey has a 99% confidence level with a less than 6% margin of error.

“The survey found that 12.8% of Lebanon’s GSM users share their phone lines with other members of their families. The main reason for that was not having a mobile line of their own which indicates pent-up demand for cellular services in Lebanon. This bodes well for the country’s mobile penetration which is below regional levels.” Mr. Andrawes Snobar, Arab Advisors Sr. Research Analyst and Team Leader said. Lebanon’s GSM market is peculiar in that the two GSM networks are government owned but are managed by private companies. The Lebanese government has initiated a process to sell the two networks in the first quarter of 2008.

Arab Advisors Group’s major analytical survey of Lebanon’s main cities was scientifically done. The survey involved face-to-face interviews with 600 respondents from different households in Greater Beirut, Tripoli, Jabal Lobnan, Al Biqa'a, and the South selected randomly in a manner proportionate to their estimated share of total GSM users according to official estimates. Respondents were 15 years old and above, and were cellular service users. This random survey is of current GSM users in Lebanon and not the total population of the country. Lebanon’s GSM penetration stood at 30.9% by end of Q3 2007 according to reported figures from the two operators serving the market, MTC Touch and Alfa.

Arab Advisors Group divided the survey questionnaire into two main sections:
Telecommunication and Media

The sections provide a balanced focus on the following areas:

Telecommunication
- General information
- Telecommunication methods used
- Cellular subscription
- Mobile plans
- Mobile penetration and effective mobile penetration rates
- Services used
- Cellular handsets
- Cellular data services
- SMS use
- MMS use
- 3G services
- International calls
- Perception of the mobile operators in Lebanon
- Level of Satisfaction with MTC Touch and Alfa
- Propensity to switch to a third cellular operator when one is available in Lebanon
- Handset choices and brands
- Features and technologies supported by handsets
- Handset replacement cycles
- Changing mobile lines and mobile operators
- Most important aspects for choosing a mobile operator
- Internet usage patterns of Lebanon’s GSM users
- e-commerce

Media
- TV viewing patterns and habits
- FTA Satellite TV
- Credibility of News Channels
- Pay TV
- Terrestrial TV
- Radio
- Movies and movie theatres
- Daily News Update
- Media Advertising
- Media Satisfaction Level

The Arab Advisors Group’s team of analysts in the region has produced close to 1000 reports on the Arab World’s communications and media markets. The reports can be purchased individually or received through an annual subscription to Arab Advisors Group’s (www.arabadvisors.com) Strategic Research Services (Media and Telecom). To date, Arab Advisors Group has served over 450 global and regional companies by providing reliable research analysis and forecasts of Arab communications markets to these clients. Some of our clients can be viewed on http://www.arabadvisors.com/clients.htm