Vodafone to become ‘strategic partner’ for third mobile operator in Oman

Muscat: Vodafone is set to become a 'strategic partner' for the creation of a third mobile operator in Oman.

On Friday, the Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRA) announced that a memorandum of understanding had been signed between a consortium of investment funds in Oman and Vodafone.

In a statement, the TRA said, “Regarding what has been circulating on some websites and social media platforms on Vodafone being granted license to be the third mobile operator for public services in the Sultanate, the public authority confirms that what has been reached is the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the company owned by a local consortium of investment funds and between Vodafone (as a strategic partner) in a move to complete the procedures for obtaining the third operator license to provide mobile public telecommunications services in the Sultanate in accordance with the directives of the government in this regard.”

“TRA welcomes such trade agreements, which is one of the jurisdictions of the licensing entities. The authority regards such agreements as a positive indicator that the telecommunications market in the Sultanate is an attractive market for international and domestic investors, thus enhancing the chances of competition,” the authority added.

Last year in December, Eng. Yousef bin Abdullah Al Balushi, Deputy CEO for Spectrum Management Affairs at the Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRA), said the licence for the third mobile communications operator is in the final stage and the announcement will be made early in 2019.

The announcement was made during the draw, which was organised by TRA for the frequency domain 3400-3700 megahertz.

According to the outcome of the draw, Omantel was allocated the frequency from 3400 to 3500, Ooredoo from 3500 to 3600 and the third operator was allocated the frequency from 3600 to 3700, as per TRA rules and regulations.

Balushi also pointed out that all the domains and frequencies for the third operator will be ready and granted the same way with Omantel and Ooredoo. The aim of this process is to create a competitive atmosphere to provide better services at reasonable rates for all parties.