5G in Kuwait

Kuwait officially kicks off 5G network today - 15th June 2019. This comes after the Pilot operation of the fifth generation mobile operator networks completed successfully their trials. The chairman and CEO of the Communication and Information Technology Regulatory Authority (CITRA) Engineer Salem Al-Ozainah announced on 28th May 2019. (CLICK HERE to read the official article).

CITRA has approved the additional spectrum in the existing LTE frequency range and new millimeter wave bands (24-86 GHz), which can support data rates of up to 20 gigabits per second. (CLICK HERE to read the official article).

What does it all mean for Kuwait? First and foremost 5G for Kuwait means faster internet speed. For now (15/06/2019), all three network operators will be matching their packages, approximately KD 45 per month for 1 TB of data along with providing a 5G compatible Router.

CITRA has been keeping a watchful eye over the whole 5G network subject and its operators. On 17/06/2019, CITRA reminded all the operators of the commitments they made with the Regulatory in the year 2014 & 2015 about fair market competitions and pricing. More options were brought in the picture with amount options of KD 25 and KD 26 monthly with 2 year commitments with lower data packages.

CITRA

(Communication and Information Technology Regulatory Authority)

Website: https://citra.gov.kw/sites/En/Pages/Home.aspx

Instagram: citrakuwait (CLICK HERE)

Twitter: CitraKuwait (CLICK HERE)

Facebook: citrakuwait (CLICK HERE)

Service phone number: 125

Zain

(Previously MTC)

Company Name: Mobile Telecommunication Company

HASHTAG #5Gzain

Website for 5G: https://www.kw.zain.com/en/5g

Website: https://www.kw.zain.com/

Instagram: zainkuwait (CLICK HERE)

Twitter: zainkuwait (CLICK HERE)

Facebook: zainkuwait (CLICK HERE)

Customer Care: 107

Ooredoo

(Previously Wataniya)

Company Name: National Mobile Telecommunication Company

HASHTAG #Ooredoo5G

Website for 5G: https://www.ooredoo.com.kw/portal/en/5g

Website: https://www.ooredoo.com.kw/

Instagram: OoredooKuwait (CLICK HERE)

Twitter: OoredooKuwait (CLICK HERE)

Facebook: OoredooKuwait (CLICK HERE)

Customer Care: 121

Viva

Company Name: Kuwait Telecom Company

Website for 5G: https://www.viva.com.kw/sites/viva/en/5g

Website: http://www.viva.com.kw/

Instagram: VivaTelecom (CLICK HERE)

Twitter: VivaTelecom (CLICK HERE)

Facebook: VivaQ8 (CLICK HERE)

Customer Care: 102

Related Articles

CLICK HERE to see the previous post on 'Kuwait's ambition for High Speed Internet'.

CLICK HERE to see the previous post on 'Internet in Kuwait'

Kuwait's ambition for High Speed Internet

Kuwait's thirst for faster internet speed has been growing. All the Service providers are moving in that direction, be it Fiber Optic cables or 5G networks. CLICK HERE to read the article about projects being executed towards that direction.

Ministry of Communication has been upping their game with Fiber Optic cable replacements of older cable networks in existing cities and installation of fiber optics in all newer cities. This is already helping in increasing the current 10 -14 Mbps to even more higher speed of 50-100 Mbps speeds. Current internet plans by the different Internet Service Providers (ISP) are as below (as of 5th January 2019).

With the Landline ISPs moving ahead in the game, the Mobile ISPs have also been eyeing the 5G networks,  with current speeds of 21 Mbps to 42 Mbps being provided on the 4G networks. Lots of Offer packages are out on all of ISPs.

CLICK HERE for the previous posts about the Internet in Kuwait.

Internet Service Providers of Kuwait

Quality Net

Website: https://www.qualitynet.net/

Instagram: qualitynet_q8 (CLICK HERE)

Twitter: qualitynet_q8 (CLICK HERE)

Facebook: QualityNetkw (CLICK HERE)

Customer Care: 1808888 , 1804444

FastTelco

Website: https://www.fasttelco.net/

Instagram: fasttelco (CLICK HERE)

Twitter: fasttelco (CLICK HERE)

Facebook: FASTtelco (CLICK HERE)

Customer Care: 1886666

KEMS

Website: http://www1.kems.net/

Instagram: kemsinternet (CLICK HERE)

Twitter: KEMSinternet (CLICK HERE)

Facebook: KEMSinternet (CLICK HERE)

Customer Care: 1822822

BOnline

(previously Gulfnet)

Website: https://www.bonline.com.kw/

Instagram: bonlinekw (CLICK HERE)

Twitter: bonlinekw (CLICK HERE)

Facebook: bonlinekw (CLICK HERE)

Customer Care: 1816666

Mada

Website: http://www.mada.com.kw/

Instagram: mada_kuwait (CLICK HERE)

Twitter: Mada_Kuwait (CLICK HERE)

Facebook: Mada.Kuwait (CLICK HERE)

Customer Care: 1822888

BWireless

(previously WiMD)

Website: https://bwireless.com.kw/en/

Instagram: bwirelesskw (CLICK HERE)

Twitter: bwirelesskw (CLICK HERE)

Facebook: BWirelesskw (CLICK HERE)

Customer Care: 1800055

Zain

(Previously MTC)

Website: https://www.kw.zain.com/

Instagram: zainkuwait (CLICK HERE)

Twitter: zainkuwait (CLICK HERE)

Facebook: zainkuwait (CLICK HERE)

Customer Care: 107

Ooredoo

(Previously Wataniya)

Website: https://www.ooredoo.com.kw/

Instagram: OoredooKuwait (CLICK HERE)

Twitter: OoredooKuwait (CLICK HERE)

Facebook: OoredooKuwait (CLICK HERE)

Customer Care: 121

Viva

Website: http://www.viva.com.kw/

Instagram: VivaTelecom (CLICK HERE)

Twitter: VivaTelecom (CLICK HERE)

Facebook: VivaQ8 (CLICK HERE)

Customer Care: 102

UPDATES (01/10/2019): OCTOBER 2019

Info Connect & Info Biz 2015

Kuwait's Info Connect Exhibition is back with a week long event taking place at Mishref's Kuwait International Fairground Hall No 6. The event start on Sunday, 25th January 2015 and goes up to Saturday, 31st January 2015. This exhibition is one of the most happening IT and Computer Exhibitions that take place in Kuwait with lots of on spot discounts and offers. One can get great offers on hardware, software and also mobile phones. Also as the telecom operators are present with their booths, they give the best internet packages with devices or without. Example, in Info connect 2014, Fast Telco launched the fastest internet package in Kuwait with 1000 Mbps Internet connection using fiber optics for both business or residential customers. It is definitely a costly service nonetheless it is the first of its kind in Kuwait offered to an individual or residential customer.

TIMINGS for Infoconnect Exhibition

25th January 2015 to 31st January 2015

Morning 10 am to 1 pm

Evenings 4:30 pm to 9 pm

(NOTE: Please check before going for 25th January as Kuwait has declared it as public holiday)

Photo Courtesy to AAB World

There are some tentative changes to the Exhibition schedule so check before going to the exhibition.

TENTATIVE (Monday 26/01/2015 till Sunday, 01/02/2015)

Below is a list of companies that will be putting up their booths. It will give a heads up on the type of products that will be available during the exhibition. The best being "All under one roof" concept. (SOURCE: CLICK HERE for the exhibitors list) (The list below is tentative - that is more number of booths might be present on the day of the event)

Internet Operators in Kuwait

• Qualitynet
• Gulfnet communication
• Zagil / Zajil Telecom
• FastTelco
• Gulfnet International (KEMS)

Wireless Internet Operators in Kuwait

• Wireless Internet Mobile Data Co. (WIMD)
• Mada Communications

Other Booths

• Orbit Show Time Networks (OSN)
• Dar Al Mashoura Publishing
• Infocenter for Training Services
• Asnaf General Trading Co.
• Capital Quality
• Wahran General Trading Co.
• Infogate Mobile Est.
• Xmart Mobile
• Ministry of Communications
• Telephoneatti
• Alhalya General Trading
• AAB World
• Design Master
• Channels Media
• IT City International
  Naser Mohammad Al Sayer Communications (Canon)
• Anwar Al Mohammadiya
• Anwarco
• Alfoz Group
• Slink International Computer
• Al Adwa News Colour Est.
• Nokhda Mobile
• AL Malim Mobile
• Q7 Mobile
• Mix Max General Trading Co.
• Al Bareeq General Trading
• Kayo Games AL Harbash Computer Co.
• Arak General Trading (YShield)
• Dlink General Trading Co.
• Right Click General Trading Co.

Simultaneously with the start of Info Connect exhibition, the Info Biz exhibition kicks off with business audience as their target. Other than this, the general public get to see the implementation of IT solutions in the different Government organisations and departments - More like the E-portals. List of the government departments showing their booths are below. (CLICK HERE for the source)

• Central Agency for Information Technology (CAIT)
• The Public Authority for Civil Information (PACI)
• Central Stattistical Bureau
• Kuwait Credit Bank
• Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority
• Manpower & Government Restructuring Program
• Kuwait Fire Services Directorate
• Information Technology Authority - Sultanate of Oman
• Ministry of Finance
• Ministry of Education
• Ministry of State for Youth Affairs
• Public Authority for Industry
• Public Authority for Housing Welfare
• Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research
• Ministry of Electricity and Water
• Ministry of Public Works
• Kuwait Awqaf Public Foundation
• Ministry of Communications
• Ministry of Awkaf and Islamic Affairs

TIMINGS FOR INFO BIZ 

25th January 2015 to 29th January 2015

Mornings - 10 am to 1 am

Evenings - 4:30 pm to 8 pm

(NOTE: Please check before going for 25th January as Kuwait has declared it as public holiday)

UPDATE 27/01/2015 : Mark - 248am has posted about the prices of Internet packages that the service providers are giving this year. Not much change compared to last year but lot of on spot prizes or Scratch cards. CLICK HERE for the post on Internet Prices and CLICK HERE for the Information on InfoConnect 2015 by Mark on 248AM

Photo Courtesy to Mark of  248AM

Internet in Kuwait

This has been one topic which I wanted to write about or atleast let people know of. This post is not going to highlight anything new but will summarize some of the things. 2012 brought the number of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) down from 5 to 4 for Wired Connectivity.

• Quality Net
• Fasttelco
• Kems
• Gulfnet

The above 4 companies have been recently given licence by Ministry of Communication (MoC) for a period of two years for a fees of 250,000 KD (Kuwaiti Dinars). Also along with that, the ISPs were asked to reduce the prices by 40% bringing the internet to some tempting prices. This reduction of price was introduced quiet early (mid 2011) but many existing customers did not know about it until the Infoconnect 2012 exhibition held in Jan-Feb 2012. I doubled my speed after paying a small difference with the new price list. The prices list for all the above 4 ISPs are amazingly similar varying only by 1 KD in most cases. People term this as Monopolization. The above wired internet connectivity is still the most economical for people if one has landline.

Wireless Internet connectivity is slightly new to Kuwait but still not that popular as it is not known to many. Here is a blog post which gives you good idea about the Kuwait experience and price list. I really did enjoy Wireless Internet connectivity experience when I was in India, Bangalore. It was newly introduced into India in January 2007 and I became a testing customer. I had a 3 months of unstable up-down connection till the technical team could figure out the in and out of the technology. During that time, I still hanged onto the wired internet. In India, the wireless internet is not that far off in price when comparing to the wired internet connectivity. In Kuwait, the two companies handling this is WiMD and MADA.

The telecom internet companies are Zain, Wataniya and Viva. They are competing against each other for customers in varieties of products from

• Mobile Internet for iphones, blackberrys and other smartphones.
• Single User internet (USB devices)
• Multi User Internet (Routers - Battery operated to standalone routers)

The telecom networks are still going to have a lot of challenge as they keep jumping the speed. Started with 256kbps to 512 kbps to 7.2 mbps to 21.6 mbps. I just hope that the network backbone can hold up as people in Kuwait are hungry for speed. Look into this blog post for a clearer picture.

Incoming calls on Mobiles FREE

With the VIVA network being activated on 3rd December 2008, the competetion has been started. Along with Viva, the other 2 networks, Zain and Wataniya have made incoming calls FREE. That is calls being received from other Cell networks, landlines and International calls are going to be Free (No charges are going to be applied). This has come as a relief for many people as they used to avoid receiving landlines. Now with this offer, people planning to make calls from their cellphones can grab their nearest landline phones and make calls to mobiles. This will help people on minimising their phone bills. I am sure more offers are on the way with the 3 networks competeting each other.

Viva network active

From Wednesday, 3rd December 2008 onwards Viva has made its network active. So people can now go to Viva centers and purchase new SIM cards. The people who have registered numbers online during the last 4 weeks can pick their sim cards from the sim collection outlets or authorised dealer outlets on the dates specified below. All the numbers starting with:

• 550 may collect between Dec 6 and Dec 12.
• 551 or 552 may collect between Dec 13 and Dec 19.
• 553, 554 or 558 may collect between Dec 20 and Dec 26.
• 555 may collect between Dec 27 and Jan 2.
• 556, 557 or 559 may collect betweeb Jan 3 and Jan 9.

Sim Collection outlets are:

• Mishref Fairground Exhibition Hall - No 8.
• Slayil Resort - Al Jahra
• Al-Manar Mall - Al Jahra
• Al Kout - Fahaheel
• Marina Mall - Salmiya
• Airport (Arrival Lounge)

Authorized Dealer outlets:

• i2
• BEC
• LG
• Eureka

Currently, over 500,000 people have registered with Viva in the last 4 weeks. These people have to show up with their Civil ID or Passport during the timeslots mentioned above.

Viva's Vanity number

Kuwait's third telecom company - Kuwait Telecom Company has started off with provisions to reserve numbers. These VIVA numbers have the prefix of "55", therefore the last 6 digit combinations are open for reservation. These reservations can be done online at the VIVA website or at Kiosks in different areas of Kuwait. Reserving these numbers donot cost and can be done only using your Civil I.D. or Passport numbers. This has been included for restriction so that only one person can book one number. This is helpful in keeping people from capturing numbers in bulk so that black marketing can be avoided. First Come First Serve is the motto currently for reserving numbers. This facility has been open for 4 weeks. Once the SIM cards are ready then the customers will be contacted to pick them up at the nearest VIVA outlet.

Exact 8 digit phone numbers

The exact range of 7 digit numbers have been mentioned below in ascending order along with the network they belong to. The 8th digit should be prefixed based on the following:
9 should be added to all Zain numbers which belong to MTC (Mobile Telecommunication Company).
6 should be added to all Wataniya numbers which belong to Wataniya Telecom.
2 should be added to all Landline numbers which belong to MoC (Ministry of Communication).
1 should be added to all Commercial numbers that is Hotline 6 digit numbers (This also belongs to MoC).

800000 - 899999 Commercial Numbers 6 digit Hotline numbers
1000000 - 3999999 Landline
4000000 - 4099999 Zain
4100000 - 4399999 Landline
4400000 - 4499999 Zain
4500000 - 5009999 Landline
5010000 - 5029999 Wataniya
5030000 - 5049999 Landline
5050000 - 5099999 Wataniya
5100000 - 5199999 Wataniya
5200000 - 5499999 Landline
5500000 - 5509999 Wataniya
5510000 - 5539999 Landline
5540000 - 5599999 Wataniya
5600000 - 5699999 Landline
5700000 - 5709999 Wataniya
5710000 - 5779999 Landline
5780000 - 5799999 Wataniya
5800000 - 5899999 Wataniya
5900000 - 5999999 Wataniya
6000000 - 7019999 Wataniya
7020000 - 7029999 Zain
7030000 - 7090000 Wataniya
7100000 - 7199999 Zain
7200000 - 7299999 Zain
7300000 - 7399999 Zain
7400000 - 7499999 Zain
7500000 - 7599999 Zain
7600000 - 7699999 Zain
7700000 - 7769999 Wataniya
7780000 - 7799999 Wataniya
7800000 - 7899999 Zain
7900000 - 7999999 Zain
8000000 - 8999999 Landline
9000000 - 9999999 Zain

International Call rates

My previous post had a comment which talked about the International call rates being ridiculous and also the charges on Mobile calls and SMSes. So this post came into existence to highlight some of those things.

First of all the Ministry of Communication in Kuwait has an official website. By the way the International call rates/tariffs are mentioned on their official website. But I would say that it is an old list which was valid before January 1st, 2008. You can CLICK HERE to see it. Ofcourse since January 1st, 2008 the call rates fell by 20% and the new updated list can be see on another site. CLICK HERE to view the current call rates/tariffs. Here you can also see the old rates and new rates.

The main problem with the above call rates are that they are still costly when compared to the rest of the gulf. The sadder part is that if you call any country, the call rate from that side will be cheaper. Example: A call from Kuwait to India will cost 240 fils/minute (KD 0.240; that is Indian Rupees 40 with current market rate as KD 5.900 for Rs 1000). Whereas a call from India to Kuwait will cost Rs 8/minute (Indian Rupee 8 = KD 0.048; that is 48 fils considering the above exchange rate).

If one thinks this is the only difference then one should consider the fact that in Kuwait outgoing calls and incoming calls on mobiles do cost. So even if one gets a call from India he will have to pay for the incoming call on his mobile (50 fils per minute). Similarly if one makes a call from his mobile to India he will have to pay the call rate 240 fils plus 50 fils. I think these things have made internet telephony more popular in Kuwait. The above reasons make the Telecom sector in Kuwait very profitable. People are awaiting for reduction on local calls and SMSes. Probably this answer may be solved by the introduction of the new telecom company whose commercial brand VIVA got launched last week.

VIVA la Kuwait

The commercial brand 'VIVA' which was launched by Kuwait Telecom company (KTC) is the latest addition to the Kuwait's telecom sector. The existing two telecom companies are ZAIN and WATANIYA which have held over the markets of Kuwait. KTC is a sister or more like a child company of STC - Saudi Telecom Company.

People are expecting some new offers with the entry of this brand. VIVA could be the reason for the speeding up of the 8 digit numbering system as this system was supposedly to begin from December 1st. VIVA speeded up it operations since it got its licence in November 2007 and has started in a record time of 10 months.

New Numbering System for phones -> 8 Digits

From Friday, September 19, phone users will be able to call both the existing 7 digit and the new 8 digit phone numbers. This will be the transition period for all phone numbers, be it Mobile phones or Landline numbers. The transition period is from Sept 19 to Oct 17. After Oct 17, the old 7 digit phone numbers will be removed.

The additional 8 digit being added to the 7 digits are as follows:
9 should be added to all Zain numbers.
eg: 7** **** becomes 97** ****
9** **** becomes 99** ****
6 should be added to all Watniya numbers.
eg: 6** **** becomes 66** ****
2 should be added to all Landline numbers.
eg: 2** **** becomes 22** ****
4** **** becomes 24** ****
5** **** becomes 25** ****
1 should be added to all Commercial numbers.
eg: 8** *** becomes 18** ***
All emergency numbers remain the same.
eg: 777, 100, 101 etc.

If people donot know what the new numbers are (whether they are confused with Zain or Wataniya numbers). Then you can click on the below site. Here Enter the existing 7 digit number and it will show you the new 8 digit number. CLICK HERE

My personal opinion is to change all the numbers in the phone book to 8 - digit numbering system as there might be some conflicts occuring. Therefore it would be suggested to stick to one particular format. Ofcourse take your own time until Oct 17.