FT.com - Gulf telecoms set for calmer times

Two tones: owning more than one mobile phone has become increasingly common in the region

Nokia-toting teenagers and BlackBerry-wielding businessmen have been a gold mine for telecommunications companies across the Gulf, turning the government-owned operators into some of the region’s most aggressive and ambitious corporate giants.

But after deals worth $33bn in the Gulf alone in the past four years, the industry may soon enter a period of more measured, “organic” growth, as acquisitions targets are scarcer and competition heats up in domestic markets, analysts and bankers say.

Etisalat’s $11.7bn blockbuster bid for 46 per cent of Zain, the Kuwaiti operator, is expected to go through and lead to the eventual sale of Zain’s 25 per cent stake in its Saudi subsidiary – which competes against Etisalat’s Mobily.