Oman-Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband

Aug. 18, 2010 - PRLog -- Summary
One of the six GCC countries, Oman has a GDP per capita at a similar level to that of Saudi Arabia but with a much smaller population. Its mobile penetration is also very similar to that of Saudi Arabia. The telecoms market as a whole has been much less competitive but things are about to get more interesting.
Incumbent Omantel has had a monopoly of all fixed-line and Internet access services. In November 2008 alternative mobile operator Nawras, 55.6% owned by Qtel of Qatar, won a 25-year licence to also build and operate domestic and international services, together with submarine cables and transmission stations. The licence also includes spectrum rights, valid for 15 years and possibly renewable for a further 10 years, to provide wireless broadband. Nawras will pay the same 7% royalties as does Omantel and was required to pay a one-time fee of OMR500,000.
Nawras is building a latest generation fibre optic backbone across the country, in conjunction with WiMAX networks, and a new international gateway. It launched its first fixed-line services, to corporate customers, in May 2010.
Possibly linked to the lack of competition in the market, fixed-line penetration is low, even by regional standards, at below 10%. Internet-user penetration is also low and ADSL broadband penetration is less than 2%.
The mobile sector is more exciting. Omantel and Nawras have roughly equal shares of the market but may find the ongoing environment challenging. Oman was the first country in the region to launch MVNOs. Five licences were awarded in June 2008 and in April 2009 Connect Arabia's FRiENDI became the first operating MVNO in the Middle East. It was closely followed in May 2009 by Majan Telecom's Renna. Both operators are targeted at the expatriate population with low recharge amounts and competitive international rates. Connect Arabia also partnered two radio stations to launch a second brand, 'Halafoni', in July 2009, this time targeted at young nationals and other Arabic speakers, with an emphasis on downloadable content. Two further MVNO's have launched in 2010, both using Nawras' network.
Oman was also earlier than most countries in the region to introduce mobile number portability, in August 2006.
The more competitive mobile market and the low broadband penetration rates provide an opening for mobile broadband services through HSPA. Both mobile operators have launched services and have marketed them strongly with numerous special offers. They appear to be winning subscribers from fixed-line broadband and the broadband market is becoming mostly mobile.
Market highlights:

Competition launched in the fixed-line sector in May 2010.
The first country in the region with MVNOs. By mid-2010 five MVNO operators had launched.
Mobile broadband services are growing strongly and fixed-line Internet subscribers appear to be moving to mobile broadband.



Table of Contents
1. Executive summary
2. Key statistics
2.1 Country overview
3. Telecommunications market
3.1 Overview of Oman's telecom market
4. Regulatory environment
4.1 Background
4.2 Regulatory authority
4.3 Telecom sector liberalisation in Oman
4.3.1 ISP licences
4.3.2 Royalties
4.3.3 Second fixed-line licence
4.3.4 Remote-area licence
4.4 Privatisation
4.4.1 Omantel restructure
4.4.2 IPO sale 2005
4.4.3 Further share sale
4.5 Interconnect
4.6 Number Portability (NP)
4.7 VoIP
5. Fixed network operator in Oman
5.1 Oman Telecommunications Company (Omantel)
5.2 -Nawras Telecom (Omani-Qatari Telecommunications Company)
6. Telecommunications infrastructure
6.1 National telecom network
6.1.1 Wireless Local Loop (WLL)
6.1.2 Alternative infrastructure
6.1.3 Next Generation Network (NGN)
6.2 International infrastructure
6.2.1 Submarine cable networks
6.2.2 Satellite networks
7. Fixed-line services
7.1 Prepaid and postpaid fixed-line services
8. Broadband access market
8.1 Overview
8.1.1 Internet and broadband statistics
8.2 Broadband subscriber forecasts
8.3 Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL)
8.4 Wireless broadband
8.4.1 WiFi
8.4.2 WiMAX
9. Digital economy/digital media
9.1 Overview
9.1.1 Knowledge Oasis Muscat
9.2 Services
9.2.1 Telemedicine centre
9.2.2 E-learning
9.2.3 E-government
10. Digital broadcasting
10.1 Overview of the broadcasting market
11. Mobile communications
11.1 Overview of Oman's mobile market
11.1.1 Mobile statistics
11.2 Mobile subscriber forecasts
11.3 Regulatory issues
11.3.1 Second mobile licence
11.3.2 Reseller/MVNO licences
11.4 Mobile technologies
11.4.1 Analogue
11.4.2 Digital
11.4.3 Third generation (3G)
11.5 Major mobile operators
11.5.1 Oman Mobile Telecommunications (OMTC)
11.5.2 Nawras Telecom (Omani-Qatari Telecommunications Company)
11.6 MVNO operators
11.6.1 Connect Arabia/FRiENDi Teleco/Halafoni
11.6.2 Majan Telecom/Renna
11.6.3 Mazoon Mobile
11.6.4 Injaz International Telecommunications
11.7 Mobile voice services
11.7.1 Prepaid
11.7.2 Satellite mobile
11.8 Mobile messaging
11.8.1 Short Message Service (SMS)
11.8.2 Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS)
11.9 Mobile broadband
11.10 Mobile content and applications
11.10.1 Mobile TV
12. Related reports
Table 1-Country statistics Oman-2010
Table 2-Telephone network statistics-February 2010
Table 3-Internet user statistics-February 2010
Table 4-Broadband statistics-February 2010
Table 5-Mobile statistics-February 2010
Table 6-National telecommunications authority
Table 7-GDP growth and inflation-2005-2011
Table 8-Omantel fixed-line ARPU-2003-2009
Table 9-Omantel financial data-2003-2009
Table 10-Fixed lines in service and teledensity-1995-2011
Table 11-Postpaid and prepaid fixed-line subscribers-2005-2010
Table 12-Internet users and penetration estimates-1998-2011
Table 13-Fixed-line Internet subscribers-2000-2010
Table 14-Internet sector ARPU-2005-2009
Table 15-Leased-line subscribers-2004-2010
Table 16-ADSL subscribers-2005-2010
Table 17-Mobile subscribers and penetration-1994-2011
Table 18-Mobile operators, subscribers and annual change-2009
Table 19-Subscribers and market share by mobile operator-2005-2009
Table 20-Mobile sector total revenues and ARPU-2005-2009
Table 21-Oman Mobile ARPU-2002-2003; 2005-2009
Table 22-Nawras pre and postpaid ARPU and annual revenue-2007-2010
Table 23-Total prepaid and postpaid subscribers-2005-2010
Table 24-Nawras prepaid and postpaid subscribers-2007-2010
Table 25-Omantel prepaid and postpaid subscribers-2008-2009
Table 26-SMS messages sent-2006-2009

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