The six Gulf Cooperation Council states — Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman — have progressively reduced roaming charges since 2012. Roaming price caps were implemented in phases, with significant reductions (up to 40%) starting April 2018. By 2021, charges within the GCC were largely eliminated for voice, SMS and data, though some operators still offer bundled roaming packages rather than truly free roaming.
📜 Legal basis: GCC Ministerial Committee Decision on Roaming Price Caps (2015–2021)
Inter-Zone Agreements
The GCC Roaming Working Group (RWG) implemented roaming price caps in multiple phases: Phase 1 (2012) — voice caps only; Phase 2 (2015) — voice+SMS+data caps; Phase 3 (2018) — 40% reduction; Phase 4 (2019) — further reductions up to 93% for data. By 2021, most operators offer unlimited or near-free GCC roaming bundles.
