ICT

Driven by growth in consumer demand for data and improved connectivity, combined revenues from fixed-line telephony and mobile services in Oman reached OR906.19m ($2.4bn) in 2015, a 12.8% increase on the previous year. Infrastructure providers face considerable challenges in rolling out high-speed services to all areas of the country, while increased competition in the mobile market is creating a renewed focus on customer service and offerings tailored to specific niches in Omani society. While many trends in the country’s telecoms sector reflect developments in the industry region-wide, distinct characteristics in the sultanate’s own market include strict prohibition of voice-over-internet-protocol services such as Skype and Facetime, which limits the cannibalisation of call revenues seen in other countries. This chapter contains an interview with Said Abdullah Mandhari, CEO, Oman Broadband Company.