UAE and Qatar have the world’s ‘healthiest’ telecom markets, says Kearney
Kearney has launched its Global Telecom Health Index for 2026, a global benchmark of the ‘health’ of telecom sectors worldwide. In a notable win for the Middle East, the UAE and Qatar have taken the top positions.
The 34-market benchmark of the global strategy consulting firm evaluates telecom markets across five dimensions: financial performance, commercial ability, technology deployment, business environment and customer sentiment, using 20 metrics drawn from Kearney data, primary consumer research and trusted third-party sources.
Kearney’s analysis shows that it is not the biggest markets that lead industry health, with the UAE and Qatar notably punching above their weight to take home the top two spots. Both countries were the only two markets in the index to combine top-five technology deployment with the two highest customer sentiment scores globally.
The authors attributed the strong performance of both Gulf markets to what it described as a “virtuous cycle”, in which well-structured markets with a small number of national operators can coordinate investment more effectively. That investment supports high-quality networks and customer satisfaction while generating financial returns that can be reinvested in the sector.
According to the study, markets with two or three mobile operators generally scored higher across financial, commercial and technology deployment measures than markets with four or more operators.
Size and wealth not decisive
The research found no link between a market’s overall health and its size or wealth. Despite lower GDP per capita than many Western peers, the UAE and Qatar outperform far larger and wealthier markets. The US, for example, has high GDP per capita but is held back by weak customer satisfaction and mixed financial returns, despite widely available fibre and 5G.
South Korea and Singapore, both technologically advanced, sit in only the second quartile of the index, held back by customer satisfaction and returns that fall short of expectations.
Overall, three European countries ranked third (Sweden), fourth (Norway) and fifth (Switzerland), with the top 10 completed by Malaysia, Finland, Saudi Arabia, Thailand and China.
Notably, Germany and the UK were among the poorest performers in the benchmark. The UK ranks particularly low on customer sentiment and also ranks in the bottom half on technology deployment and commercial dimensions. In Germany, the market is held back by a poor rollout of fibre-optic access networks, among others.
Across the board, the gap between the top-performing and lagging countries has been found to be considerable. The top 10 countries outperform the bottom 10 on every health dimension, with an average gap of 12 percentage points.
Kearney also found that operators retaining ownership of their tower estates, as in the UAE, showed stronger technology deployment and commercial performance than markets where passive infrastructure had been sold off.
About the five dimensions of health
Financial performance measures the ability of operators to generate returns on capital employed and EBITDA, averaged over the previous three years.
Commercial ability assesses pricing relative to inflation, consumer and business revenue growth, cross- selling of fixed and mobile services, and fiber and 5G penetration.
Technology deployment measures the availability of high-speed digital infrastructure, including fiber and 5G coverage and the speeds delivered.
Business environment covers telecom market concentration and wider economic factors, including economic risk, talent pool quality and government digitization.
Customer sentiment is based on Kearney’s proprietary consumer survey assessing perceptions of mobile and fixed services.
National importance
Reflecting on the study, the authors describe a healthy telecom sector “as a national interest of every country” around the world. “Markets that achieve this see benefits for all stakeholders, while those that do not must prioritize the shift from a potentially vicious cycle to a virtuous one. Achieving and maintaining a positive balance does not happen by chance but requires vigilance and an ecosystem with all dimensions working in sync.”
For policymakers aiming to improve their telecom health, the authors contend that while all markets face different challenges and are at different stages of technology deployment, a strong sector is an achievable goal in every market: “The long and complex history of telecom operators and market structures means that markets differ. Nevertheless, with the right interventions by policymakers and the right actions from operators, a healthy sector is achievable.”
