Zain
Advisory Services
The Situation
Zain, an operator of mobile networks in many Middle Eastern and North African countries, required an analysis of mobile market development including changing regulatory regimes and market structures in the countries in which it operates.
NERA's Role
NERA conducted a detailed study of each of the countries in which Zain operates and completed cross-country econometric analysis of mobile market development. Our work examined the trade-off between competition and the exploitation of scale economies, and also examined investment incentives and mobile penetration. NERA's study highlighted that, in most of the countries in which Zain operates, rather than allowing the entry of additional mobile operators, the regulatory authorities should instead focus on ensuring that competition between the existing operators can develop.
The Result
NERA's work on this project allowed Zain to present persuasive economic evidence for its point of view in its discussions with regulatory authorities.
