The number of mobile users increased in December 2016 by 0.4% compared to November 2016, according to a report issued in June by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT). The report indicated that the number of mobile users increased from 97.3 million in November to 97.7 million in December, up by 394,700 clients. According to the report, Vodafone and Orange signed up new clients in December, contrary to Etisalat, which lost a number of its clients. In December, Vodafone took the lion's share of the new clients, where the number of its mobile service subscribers increased to 40.2 million, up from 39.8 million in November, adding 408,000 in that month. Orange managed to gain 107,100 new clients, boosting the number of its subscribers from 33.7 million in November to 33.87 million in December. On the other hand, Etisalat lost some 120,800 clients in December, bringing its client base down from 23.7 million users in November to 23.6 million in December. The mobile communication services sector had increased its client base by about 97.01 million new subscribers in October, rising from 96.2 million subscribers in September to 97.2 million subscribers in October. Etisalat was the biggest winner with over 671,400 new subscribers that month, registering 23.69 million subscribers in October, up from 23 million in September. Orange was able to attract 198,900 new customers during October reaching 33.69 million clients, while Vodafone received 100,500 new customers, increasing their customer base from 39.7 million subscribers in September to 39.8 million subscribers in October.
