Dr. Amer Awadh Al Rawas, CEO of Omantel of which Oman Mobile is a subsidiary has a positive view on the developments in mobile communications sector in the Sultanate. He says Oman is at the onset of a new era in the telecommunications sector and is currently witnessing a new business model with the entry of two mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs). Omantel which is the premier mobile operator in Oman has signed agreements with MVNOs allowing them
to use its network as a complementary measure to enhance growth, he says. Excerpts from an exclusive interview granted to Oman Vistas:

Oman Mobile is the first mobile operator in Oman. How has been the growth since you started?

Just tremendous. When Oman Mobile was established, the mobile penetration was low, technologies were basic and the range of services and coverage was fairly limited. Since then and over the past five years, Oman Mobile has completed a number of achievements in favour of the society. We have grown from eighty thousand to more than 1.8 million customers.

We provide our own telecom network which offers coverage to more than 97% of the populated areas in the Sultanate, not only for basic voice but for advanced data as well. Through our roaming agreements, Oman Mobile customers can use their mobile phone in more than 150 countries. We offer innovative technologies and have spearheaded the introduction of mobile broadband services leveraging 3.5G technologies.

Based on our leading network we offer a broad range of innovative value-added services, to maintain the position as the leading mobile operator.

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

With the entry of mobile resellers, the mobile telecom industry will now be fullyliberalised. We are not only at the onset of a new era in the telecom market in Oman, but are also witnessing, through the introduction of mobile resellers, a completely new model to enhance competition.
Oman is the first country in the region to introduce such competition and the outcome is eagerly watched by every telecom operator and regulator across the region.

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

As we take a positive view on competition, we have signed agreements with two mobile resellers (Friendi and Renna) so that they can use our network to host their customers. Consequently and as we expect mobile resellers also to contribute to market growth, we expect that our network share as well as our market share will increase. Pioneering this stage of development, by signing up with mobile resellers, simply is a complimentary means to ensure that we always stay ahead of the market

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

Oman Mobile is the premier mobile operator in the Sultanate which also forms part of Omantel Group. We offer customers the broadest range of services regardless if these are fixed or mobile. Our products and services have been tailored to meet a very broad range of customers
ranging from large corporates, advanced BlackBerry users and mobile broadband users as well as customers who primarily use their mobile phones for making phone calls and sending SMS
to families and friends inside and outside of Oman.

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

There are several elements that determine the number of players in each market and the size of the market is defi-nitely one of them. It may be a bit too early, just when we have supported the
launch of two mobile resellers, to assess how many in the end that may be justified. What we believe is that we are just entering a new era in the mobile market and it will take some time to assess the impact of the step we have already taken.

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

I believe we all recognize that there are different types of customers in the market,
whereby some of our customers prefer to have one sim card or handset for all their mobile communication use. On the other hand, there are customers who prefer to have multiple sim cards or handsets for business use, personal use and mobile data usage. I believe that customers who have a preference for multiple sim cards and even handsets will continue to grow in Oman

“We provide our own telecom network which offers coverage to more than 97% of the populated areas in the Sultanate, not only for basic voice but for advanced data as well.”