Qatar ranks second globally in telecom health

Qatar has been ranked the second-healthiest telecom market in the world, behind only the UAE, in the newly launched Global Telecom Health Index from management consultancy Kearney - a 34-market benchmark of the overall health of national telecom sectors.

The index expands Kearney’s 2025 European Telecom Health Index, which covered 20 European markets, into a global assessment by adding 14 markets, including Qatar and the UAE. Together, the two Gulf states stood out as the only markets to combine a top-five score for technology deployment with the two highest customer-sentiment scores worldwide.

How markets were scored

Kearney assessed each market across five dimensions, drawing on 20 metrics taken from its proprietary data, primary consumer research, and trusted third-party sources:

•    Financial performance
•    Commercial ability
•    Technology deployment
•    Business environment
•    Customer sentiment

A ‘virtuous cycle’

Qatar’s standing reflects what Kearney describes as a “virtuous cycle”: well-structured markets served by a small number of national operators can coordinate investment more effectively, producing high-quality networks, strong customer satisfaction, and financial returns that fund further investment. Qatar operates with two national mobile operators, and the research found that markets with two or three operators generally scored higher across financial, commercial, and technology measures than more fragmented markets with four or more.

The consultancy said its findings challenge the assumption that a telecom sector’s health is determined by the size or wealth of a country. The markets assessed ranged from Qatar, with a population of around three million, to China and India, whose populations approach 1.5 billion - yet Kearney found no correlation between GDP per capita and index score.

Bigger and richer isn’t always healthier

By way of contrast, the United States - despite high GDP per capita and widely available fiber and 5G - was held back by weaker customer satisfaction and mixed financial returns. Technologically advanced South Korea and Singapore landed only in the second quartile, constrained by customer satisfaction and returns that fell short of expectations. Malaysia, meanwhile, sits 32nd on GDP per capita but sixth on the index, which Kearney credited to a well-structured market and coordinated technology rollout. Italy, the UK, and Germany rounded out the bottom of the ranking.

The report concluded that a healthy telecom sector has become a matter of national interest, because connectivity now underpins digital services, artificial intelligence, remote working, and broader economic development. Qatar’s performance, it said, shows how a smaller market can achieve strong outcomes when infrastructure investment, commercial sustainability, and customer needs are kept in balance.

Source: Kearney 2026 Global Telecom Health Index. Figures as reported August 2026.