Oman’s Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRA) will select and announce a third mobile operator in September this year.

“As per TRA, this should happen by the first week of September. They are studying all the proposals and the process will be cleared soon,” said Raed Haddadin, chief executive officer of Renna Mobile. 

With the aim to increase competition in the telecom sector, TRA had last year invited operators from across the region to apply for an Omani mobile licence.

“TRA wants a third operator so competition will increase for the benefit of the customers. Operators might look at it like there is no need for more competition in Oman where we have four players, two MVNOs and two operators. Customers wanted a third operator for price cut and better services in the country,” said Haddadin.

Integrated Telecommunication Oman (TeO), which acquired Renna last year, was also in the bid to get a third operator’s license. “TeO has plans to expand and prepare for the third license,” he added.

Currently, Omantel and Ooredoo are the two Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and Renna and Friendi are the two Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) in the country. “Oman started (MVNO) in 2009. It was one of the first countries in the whole region: North Africa and Middle East.”

He explained, “We are a mobile operator, but we don’t have our own network. We depend on Omantel as our network operator. We use the Omantel network, but have totally separate offerings for our customer base.”

In a country with a mobile penetration of 160 per cent, the competition is bound to be extremely high. “Oman has reached a very high percentage of mobile users. Today, the penetration rate is more than 160 per cent; which means the number of mobiles is much higher than the population.”

He added, “The third operator will increase competition, push the current players to improve their services, prices and offers.”

Source: Timesofoman