McKinsey · Strategy · Medium · 25-35 min

Saudi Telco Losing Postpaid Subscribers

Last updated 2026-07-29

What is this case about?

A tier-1 Saudi telco. Postpaid annual churn has climbed from 4% to 8% over eighteen months while the two main competitors hold steady at 2%. Prepaid is flat. Postpaid ARPU is roughly four times prepaid. The CEO wants the gap closed inside a year. Network NPS has actually improved over the same period. You have one analyst, two weeks, and access to subscriber, billing, and care data.

Where strong candidates start

  • State a hypothesis upfront about what is driving the 4× gap — do not ask for data first
  • Decompose churn — by segment, tenure, plan type, reason code — and say which cut would confirm or kill the hypothesis

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