Qatar and the UAE have emerged as the strongest Gulf mobile markets for maintaining network performance during busy hours, while Saudi Arabia faces greater peak-time capacity pressure, according to an Ookla analysis of mobile network congestion.
Gulf telecom operators have built some of the fastest mobile networks globally, supported by extensive 5G deployment, premium mid-band spectrum, massive MIMO, carrier aggregation and growing adoption of 5G Standalone (SA) and 5G-Advanced.
But headline download speed does not tell the full story. As operators increase 5G network investment, their ability to maintain performance when traffic surges is becoming an increasingly important measure of network quality.
Ookla’s latest analysis on network performance of Gulf telecom operators shows significant differences in how networks across the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and Saudi Arabia perform when mobile traffic rises. The findings prepared by Ookla’s Karim Yaici put greater emphasis on network consistency, latency and the experience of users during peak demand rather than maximum speeds alone.
UAE, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain Lead Global Mobile Rankings
The scale of Gulf mobile network performance is evident from the Speedtest Global Index.
The UAE, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain occupied the top four positions globally for mobile performance during the three months to April 2026, while Oman ranked eighth and Saudi Arabia was 17th.
Median mobile download speeds ranged from 166.18 Mbps in Oman to 647.28 Mbps in the UAE in April 2026.
The UAE has also demonstrated the potential of 5G SA. Its median 5G SA download speed reached 1.24 Gbps in Q4 2025, according to Ookla, placing the country ahead of other markets globally.
These results reflect sustained network investment by Gulf operators in spectrum, radio infrastructure, fiber backhaul and advanced 5G technologies.
Qatar Has Best Peak-Hour Resilience
Ookla’s congestion rating provides a different way of evaluating operator performance.
Instead of looking only at download speeds, it measures deterioration between off-peak hours of 2-5 AM and peak hours of 7-10 PM. The zero-to-100 rating incorporates throughput loss, loaded latency, queue growth, jitter and the performance of the bottom 10 percent of users.
A lower score indicates better resilience.
In Q1 2026, Qatar recorded a congestion rating of around 5, the best result among the six Gulf markets. Its rating had ranged between 12 and 16 during 2025 before improving substantially.
The UAE was close behind, with its congestion rating remaining below 7.
The UAE result is particularly significant because median download performance during peak periods was actually better than during off-peak periods. Loaded latency and queuing also avoided meaningful deterioration.
Its main weakness was concentrated among less well-served customers: download speed for the bottom 10 percent of users declined by around 40 percent.
The results demonstrate how investment in 5G Standalone networks can increasingly be evaluated not only through headline speed but also through network stability, latency and performance during periods of heavy demand.
Bahrain Records Biggest Improvement
Bahrain delivered one of the most significant improvements among Gulf mobile markets.
Its congestion rating fell by nearly 12 points year-on-year, with improvements across download speed, latency and queuing.
Kuwait also maintained relatively strong overall network performance. However, the results expose a gap between average customers and those experiencing weaker network conditions.
In Kuwait, download speeds for the bottom 10 percent of users fell by as much as 70 percent in Q4 2025 during peak periods.
For operators in Bahrain and Kuwait, the next stage of network improvement may therefore depend less on raising headline speeds and more on site densification, indoor mobile coverage and addressing underserved areas.
Saudi Arabia Faces Greater Peak-Hour Capacity Challenge
Saudi Arabia remains a globally strong mobile market, but Ookla’s analysis indicates that its networks face more pressure when traffic reaches its evening peak.
Saudi Arabia had a Q1 2026 congestion rating of around 25, compared with approximately 5 for Qatar.
Median mobile download speeds in Saudi Arabia dropped by 31 percent to 52 percent between off-peak and peak periods during the study.
The pattern points primarily toward capacity pressure during periods of heavy demand rather than simply a latency issue.
Saudi operators may consequently need additional spectrum efficiency, network densification, radio capacity and backhaul upgrades in high-demand locations as mobile data consumption continues to increase.
This is particularly important as operators across the Middle East expand 5G and 5G-Advanced network infrastructure to support higher traffic volumes, enterprise applications and new consumer services.
Oman presents a different challenge. Its latency and queuing performance improved, but jitter inflation increased, potentially indicating overloaded cells or issues involving handovers, backhaul and interference.
Gulf Networks Outperform Europe Under Load
One of the strongest findings is how Gulf networks compare with European mobile infrastructure.
The six Gulf markets recorded an average congestion rating of 14.2 in Q1 2026 — about half the European average measured using the same methodology.
Five of the six Gulf countries achieved lower congestion ratings than 80 percent of the 29 European markets evaluated by Ookla.
Even Saudi Arabia, the weakest Gulf performer under this measure, recorded better results than 22 European countries.
For comparison, Spain recorded a congestion rating of 62, while Ireland reached 52.
The difference reflects several structural advantages enjoyed by Gulf operators, including relatively high telecom investment, extensive mid-band spectrum, dense urban populations and earlier deployment of advanced 5G technologies.
Many Gulf telecom operators also operate with EBITDA levels in the 40-50 percent-plus range, providing greater financial capacity for continued network investment.
Ramadan Creates Different Network Peaks
Operator performance also changes significantly during Ramadan because mobile usage patterns shift around Suhoor, Iftar and evening prayers.
Ookla analyzed network performance between February 18 and March 18, 2026, comparing hourly speeds against a 2-4 AM baseline.
Saudi Arabia and Bahrain showed some of the clearest Iftar-related effects.
Saudi Arabia’s download speed ratio reached almost 1.5x the overnight baseline at 9 AM before falling toward the evening. Bahrain reached approximately 1.4x at 6 AM.
Around Iftar, speed ratios in both countries dropped to roughly 0.6x the overnight baseline.
The UAE displayed a very different pattern. Its largest constraint appeared during the morning commute, when the ratio dropped to 0.5x at 7 AM. Performance then recovered to around 1.3x by 4 PM before falling to approximately 0.8x around Iftar.
Oman’s morning low was approximately 0.7x at 8 AM.
Kuwait Shows Most Consistent Ramadan Performance
Kuwait stood out for consistency.
Mobile download speeds exceeded the overnight baseline during 17 of 24 hours, while the morning average reached approximately 1.3x. Even Kuwait’s weakest hour produced a ratio of around 0.9x at 9 PM.
Qatar produced what initially appears to be a weaker pattern, with speeds below the overnight baseline during 20 of 24 hours and a low of around 0.5x at 1 PM.
However, Qatar’s overnight baseline itself exceeded 522 Mbps, meaning daytime networks were being compared with an exceptionally fast off-peak network.
The result reinforces why operator performance cannot be judged using ratios or headline speeds in isolation.
Winter Puts More Pressure on Gulf Mobile Networks
Seasonal patterns create another challenge for Gulf operators.
Unlike many European markets, where summer tourism can increase network congestion, Gulf networks tend to experience greater mobile pressure during cooler months.
Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia recorded their weakest evening-to-overnight speed ratios during winter or fall as cooler weather increased outdoor activity, tourism and the return of expatriate workers after summer.
Winter evening throughput in Kuwait, Oman and Saudi Arabia was around 25-40 percent below off-peak performance.
Bahrain recorded a particularly strong improvement over time, with its ratio increasing from only 0.4 in fall 2024 to around 0.8 in winter 2026.
Qatar and the UAE were considerably less exposed to seasonal deterioration, with evening speeds approaching or exceeding the 1.0 ratio, where peak-period performance matches overnight performance.
Network Consistency Becomes the Next Competitive Battle
The findings indicate that Gulf operators have largely moved beyond the first stage of the 5G competition — simply delivering higher download speeds.
The next competitive benchmark is how consistently operators maintain speed, latency and responsiveness when networks are under maximum pressure.
Qatar and the UAE currently demonstrate the strongest overall resilience. Kuwait combines strong average performance with excellent Ramadan stability but needs to address performance among its bottom 10 percent of users. Bahrain’s rapid improvement indicates that network upgrades are producing measurable results.
Oman needs to focus on jitter and localized network issues, while Saudi Arabia faces the clearest challenge around capacity during periods of heavy traffic.
For Gulf operators, additional 5G SA and 5G-Advanced deployments, indoor coverage, site densification, spectrum optimization, backhaul expansion and better peak-hour traffic management could become more important than chasing another headline speed record.
Continued telecom network investment will therefore increasingly be judged by improvements in consistency and customer experience rather than peak download speed alone.
Ookla’s findings ultimately show that the Gulf’s mobile leadership is no longer defined only by how fast its networks can become. The emerging measure of operator performance is how well those networks retain their speed and responsiveness when millions of subscribers need capacity at the same time.
BABURAJAN KIZHAKEDATH