The impact of the economic downturn has come later to the Middle East and North Africa, but the region's telecoms markets are now feeling the effects of the recession, according to a new report from Analysys Mason. Moves to save money and protect bottom lines are changing the MENA telecoms landscape and, despite the recession, there are still opportunities for mergers and acquisitions, the analyst firm said.
Operators in the region are increasingly turning to network-sharing and managed services deals with the major vendors. "Operators in markets where network coverage is no longer a key competitive differentiator should particularly consider network sharing as a means to reduce costs," Analysys Mason said in the report, noting that there have been a number of network-sharing deals across the region in the past two years and others are in the pipeline. Article