Issued on 28 August 2026
Executive Summary
This paper examines why GCC telecom operators, despite pursuing broadly identical strategies, trade at materially different multiples. It is presented in two parts. The first assesses nine listed operators across the region, comparing their strategic positioning, financial performance and trading multiples, and tests the relationship between valuation and each of scale, growth, margins, leverage, cash generation, returns and geographic footprint. The second applies those findings to a single case, Etihad Etisalat (Mobily), examining whether the market has priced the company's transformation over the past five years.