New licence: Oman to improve connectivity with satellite internet

Observer

12-04-2025

Muscat: The Sultanate of Oman's telecommunication services sector got a boost last week with a new competitor when Royal Decree 40/2025 issued a Category 1 license to the Satellite Communications Technologies Company (OmanSat) to provide fixed public communication services.
Under the license, OmanSat will establish and operate satellite communication systems to provide fixed public communication services in the Sultanate of Oman, which include broadband Internet services, satellite connectivity services for communication stations, and provide multiple options for beneficiaries in rural areas.
Speaking to the Observer, Mahmood Omar al Zadjali, acting executive manager, Strategic Planning unit, Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), said, "This is a Class 1 license building telecom infrastructure (networks) and providing services. This license is similar to one provided to Omantel, Ooredoo, Vodafone, Awasar, and Starlink recently."
Among other types of licenses that are usually issued, Class 2 is provided to companies that do not build their networks, but provide telecom services based on resale. For example, companies such as Friendi, Renna, and others. "They are licensed service providers, but they don't build the network."
Mahmood Omar al Zadjali, acting executive manager, Strategic Planning unit, Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA)
The Class 3 licence is issued through a decision of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) to provide private network owners or service providers who meet the qualifying criteria for unlimited entry to the market. The licence duration will not exceed five years.
On OmanSat, Al Zadjali said, "It is not a new company, but a government enterprise that was established in 2018 to spearhead the national satellite program initiative by building satellite communications infrastructure and developing required capabilities to serve public and private sectors, coping with their immediate to long-term telecommunications needs. They did not have a license before it was under the Oman Broadband Company, but now they have their separate license, and they can provide the satellite services, which include that they have the satellite or lease the satellite bandwidth and resell to other companies."
He added, "The significance of this particular is that satellite services are important because they can reach faraway and inaccessible remote places, which is costly and sometimes impossible with the traditional infrastructure for terrestrial or fixed network."
In the event of an outage in the fixed service network, services based on satellite can step in during an emergency as a solution for the other players. "Apart from competition, the most important aspect is providing services to remote villages of the Sultanate of Oman.
"Satellite services are the latest trend because they offer better quality and high speed to the end-users."
Al Zadjali said that it is now up to the company or the operator (OmanSat) to announce the launch of products, including various services and packages. With regards to the pricing, he said, "The matter is totally up to the new operator, and because this is a new company is not a dominant player in the market, they have flexibility in providing their own set of prices and tariffs."
On comparison with Starlink, Al Zadjali said that Starlink has its satellites, while the new company does not own any, but has agreements with satellites to lease the bandwidth from them. That is the difference. But in the future, it may have its own satellite and provide the services based on that infrastructure."