Omantel’s Class 1 mobile telecom licence set for renewal

Oman Telecommunications Company SAOG (Omantel) has announced that it has been intimated by the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) that the groundwork for the renewal of its Class 1 mobile telecom licence has been completed.

The majority government-owned telecom operator said in a filing to the Capital Market Authority (CMA) that the new licence will come into effect from February 11, 2019 for a period of 15 years.

“The renewal includes the spectra that are currently allocated to Omantel under the existing firstclass mobile telecom licence and will not include the 5G spectrum,” the telecom company said.

“We anticipate that the terms and conditions of the renewal will be substantially similar to the terms of the existing licence and will be published by the concerned government departments in the official gazette,” it added.

The licence renewal comes on the heels of the TRA’S revelation last month that a third mobile telecom operator will be licensed to operate in the Sultanate with an announcement anticipated early in 2019.

Omantel, along with Ooredoo, are currently the two main mobile operators licensed to provide a range of telecom and Internet services in the Sultanate. The addition of a third operator is expected to fuel a new level of competition in the domestic telecom market, as well as drive innovation and investment in this critical sector.

Eng Yousef bin Abdullah al Balushi, Deputy CEO for Spectrum Management Affairs at TRA, was quoted as saying that the third operator — expected to be a consortium of local investors and players — will enjoy the same domains and spectra as the incumbent operators.