The Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRA) of Oman announced the details of the 5G roadmap for the Sultanate, which according to it will bolster progress and development of various sectors including education, health, and logistics.
TRA officials also announced that they would exempt companies from annual frequency usage fees for one year, to bolster usage of 5G services in the Sultanate.
As part of the Oman Vision 2040 strategy, it also granted two telecom operators – Omantel and Ooredoo – the right to use a 100MHz 5G spectrum, which will offer endless opportunities for upgrading their services. Omantel and Ooredoo will aim to erect 4,400 telecom towers in the next five years to speed up the spread of 5G network. This includes 1,000 stations being erected in 2019-2020.
“Workshops to inform relevant government authorities on the applications and in preparation for readiness will be held along the course of time,” TRA said and adding that readiness for 5G services will enable companies to employ artificial intelligence in data analysis and decision making, providing vital impetus to the overall economic development.
5-G ready
In a news report published earlier this year, Omantel revealed that its network was 5G-ready. Ali Al Hashmi, Omantel’s Senior Manager of Network Design was quoted as saying to a local news source, “We are ready from the network perspective, but individual mobile phones are not. For example, if you go to some of the areas, you may find 5G appearing as a network, but you will not be able to pick it up from your mobile as it does not yet support this feature.” In November 2017, Omantel and Ericsson conducted a live 5G showcase in a real-world environment, including tests on speed, mobility and latency.
In 2018, Ooredoo became the first operator in the world to launch a live 5G network on the 3.5GHz spectrum band. The breakthrough announcement was made in an event attended by Ooredoo senior management at the Ooredoo Tower in West Bay. Attendees were also briefed on the first Ooredoo 5G site which was accomplished just days after Ooredoo’s new 5G Commercial Core Network was activated.
As of now, Omantel and Ooredoo are the two major players in the telecom industry with both companies having renewed their operating licences in February this year for a further 15 years, at a cost of $195m each. In September this year, Vodafone became the country’s third mobile operator and is supposed to start its services from 2020.
Interestingly, Oman seems to be building on its Information Technology sector with a Royal Decree announcement that established a new ministry, Ministry of Technology and Communications, which would replace the Information Technology Authority (ITA) and will take charge of the telecom policies and legislations at the Ministry of Transport and Communications.
