Nawras has been a pioneer in introducing innovative services in the mobile sector in the Sultanate ever since it launched operations four years ago. In an exclusive interview to Oman Vistas, Ross Cormack, CEO of Nawras says his company has played a significant role
in developing mobile services in the Sultanate. Though Nawras respects additional
competition it is confident that the impact of enhanced competition on its business prospects will be immaterial, says Cormack. He expects mobile penetration in Oman to grow further in
the coming days. Excerpts:

Congratulations upon completing 4 years of service in Oman. How have the last 4 years been?

Thank you for your kind words. The last four years have been extremely exciting and incredibly successful. It has been a great privilege for Nawras to totally transform the telecommunications landscape in Oman by giving people new ways to buy, new places and ways to pay and friendly professional help around the clock so they can get closer to colleagues, friends and family. When Nawras first started there were only 40 places in the entire country where mobile customers could buy a SIM card and today we have more than 1200 places selling Nawras SIM cards. We introduced the first 24 hour customer service centre in Oman and that has consistently delivered such a high standard that it was recently awarded Middle East Call Centre of the Year 2009. We have also introduced many ‘firsts’ including being the first to launch a 3G+ network back in 2007, first to offer data roaming and first to introduce mobile TV.

When Nawras started operations in 2005, it was with just 250 employeesand of that number, 235 had never worked in a mobile company before. Today we are proud to have over 650 talented Nawras people who rank amongst the finest telecom professionals anywhere.

In addition to Middle East Call Centre of the Year, at the same event Nawras was thrilled to also be awarded Middle East Best Career and Skill Path and Middle East Best Retention and otivation. Nawras has received further internationalrecognition with awards like Middle East Mobile perator of the Year and Middle East Business Achievement Award for Corporate Social Responsibility. Our first global award ‘Above and Beyond the call of Duty’ came last year at the World BSS Awards.

When Nawras started serving the people of Oman, mobile penetration was only 32% and today that figure has risen to more than 110%. Nawras is providing its award winning service to over 1.6 million customers representing a market share of around 47%.

We are mindful of how important it is for us to play our part in the community too as we live our core values of being caring, excellent and pleasingly different. We support many charities, communities and events across the country with the most well known contribution we make being the annual Nawras Goodwill Journey. Organised and run by fasting, volunteer employees during Ramadan, a convoy of Nawras vehicles travels thousands of kilometres all over
the Sultanate to support those running and attending different charitable organisations. Sometimes we build computer laboratories, sometimes a shelter from the elements is needed or equipment adapted for blind users. Nawras finds out what is needed and fills that void in a caring way.

There are newer players like Renna Mobile and Frendi Mobile that have entered the market recently. What impact will Nawras have with the entry of such new service providers?

Nawras is totally focused on customers with a team of enthusiastic people who are dedicated to living the customer experience every day. We provide many pleasingly different services to help our customers communicate with great value and excellent quality. The second class resellers who have recently entered the market are targeting very narrowly defined segments and offering a more limited range of services. It is worth pointing out that Nawras offers over 15,000 different places around the Sultanate for customers to buy a recharge card in contrast to the limited points of sale the newcomers have.

New Nawras customers joining the fastest growing family in Oman have their SIM-card activated very quickly. There are no delays with Nawras. A track record of four years’ experience means customers know that they can trust and rely on the world-class network from Nawras, a fact that has contributed to a current market share of 47%.

Therefore, although we have respect for the entry of additional competition in the market through resellers, we do not fear it. We are convinced that as long as we stick to our strategy of always

putting the customer first, the impact from the resellers will be immaterial to our business.
However, we never forget that customers do have a choice and can even change operator without losing their number through mobile number portability. But the fact is that since this service was introduced in 2006, nine out of ten porting customers have moved to join the fastest growing family in Oman, which is Nawras, and we are confident that most customers will also select Nawras in the future.

Will you lose a part of your market share to the new mobile operators? How do you plan to stay ahead of the competition?

Our mode of operandi is unchanged by the arrival of second class resellers. We have been focusing on customers since we began and that is what we will continue to do regardless of any existing or new competition. At Nawras we always take time to listen to our customers and we welcome customer feedback and incorporate it into our decision making. We are proud to be an Omani company providing innovative communication solutions blended with local expertise and respecting local culture.

We are committed to enhancing people’s daily lives by making mobile communication easier, more versatile and a rewarding experience.

What would be the advantages of Nawras vis-à-vis other mobile service providers?

Customers have confidence in the fact that Nawras people consistently say what they do and do what they say. Operating with clear and transparent tariffs, Nawras has given customers a pleasingly different mobile experience to enjoy in the Sultanate as well as the widest choice of roaming partners for when they travel abroad. Nawras was first to introduce data roaming, first to introduce MMS and first to launch mobile internet, to name but a few of the innovations that have delighted customers so far.

Nawras has just recently launched SmartRoamer so customers can now benefit from lower rates for calling, sms and data usage when roaming in the GCC countries of Qatar, Kuwait, UAE, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Nawras is giving more than 60% discount on call tariffs, more than 80% on wireless data services and a reduction of over 25% on SMS.

We are dedicated to serving our customers and pursuing our mission to be the best communications provider and employer of choice in Oman.

Does the size of the Oman market justify the existence of so many service providers?

Whether the Omani market justifies the existence of so many service providers is really a question for customers who will be the ones to decide. Those that provide a service that best matches the needs of customers will be successful and can expect to stay the course. Without doubt, customers have become increasingly savvy and they are more than able to evaluate the choices presented to them.

How many sim cards/mobile handsets will an average Omani customer own, in your opinion?

According to December 2008 TNS survey results, around 25% of mobile customers in Oman own two SIM cards and a slightly smaller number own two handsets. This will grow over time and with the resellers in the market the growth will also accelerate. We expect to see penetration levels indicating almost 2 SIM cards per inhabitant in Oman within the next couple of years.