The Ministry of Communications announced on April 12, 2026, that scheduled maintenance on telecommunications exchanges would temporarily disrupt phone and internet services in multiple areas of Kuwait between midnight and 6 a.m. on eight dates that month. The work targets exchanges in districts including Hawally, Farwaniya, Mangaf and Jahra, with the ministry urging residents and businesses to plan for possible outages during the overnight windows. Officials described the maintenance as essential to improving overall network performance and reliability across the country.
According to the ministry’s published schedule, maintenance will begin in Hawally on April 14 and proceed through Ardiya on April 26, affecting one location per assigned night. The full list covers Al Nuzha on April 15, Farwaniya on April 16, the Sulaibiyar area on April 19, Mangaf on April 20, Jahra on April 22 and the Mishref area on April 23. The ministry’s notice stated that both telecommunications and internet services may experience interruptions while technicians perform the upgrades.
The ministry’s tally of affected locations reflects a deliberate effort to spread the work across key residential and commercial zones rather than concentrating it in a single area. In each case, the six-hour window was chosen because it coincides with the lowest usage periods, thereby limiting the number of customers likely to be impacted. The ministry additionally thanked the public in advance for its cooperation during the planned outages.
Mordor Intelligence data places the Kuwait telecom MNO market at USD 3.27 billion in 2025, with expectations it will expand to USD 3.42 billion in 2026 and reach USD 4.13 billion by 2031. The same assessment found that data and internet services already accounted for 59.78 percent of operator revenue in 2025, while mobile subscriber penetration exceeded 181 percent, indicating that growth now hinges on network quality improvements rather than subscriber additions. Such maintenance aligns with broader goals under Kuwait Vision 2035 to modernize digital infrastructure.
A separate Mordor Intelligence sector outlook noted that IoT and M2M services are projected to record the fastest expansion within the market, growing at a compound annual rate of 3.97 percent through 2031. Enterprise demand for reliable connectivity has risen in parallel, driven by oil and gas automation projects that require consistent uptime. The ministry’s April maintenance therefore forms part of ongoing efforts to support these higher-value segments by reducing latency and strengthening backbone systems.
The maintenance program follows similar exercises the ministry has conducted in prior years, always scheduled for off-peak nighttime hours to minimize economic disruption. No specific duration of individual service interruptions was provided beyond the overall window, though the ministry advised customers to avoid critical online transactions during the affected periods. Operators under the ministry’s oversight have been instructed to apply the same notification standards in future upgrades.
Public Authority for Civil Information figures show Kuwait’s expatriate population at roughly 3.3 million, a group that relies heavily on mobile and internet services for both personal and professional communication. The ministry’s decision to publicize the schedule well in advance allows both citizens and residents to adjust accordingly, particularly in districts with high concentrations of commercial activity. Further updates on network performance gains following the maintenance are expected to be released in subsequent ministry statements.
