Muscat: Eng. Omar Hamdan Al Ismaili, CEO of Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), has said that in 2024, the TRA will carry out 29 field surveys of for the centres in the Wilayats of Oman to measure the quality of telecommunications services provided to beneficiaries.
During a media briefing organized today by the TRA in Muscat, Al Ismaili explained that the Authority has focused on raising quality of its services through various initiatives. The programme included efforts to augment 5G networks and fiber optic connectivity, in addition to initiatives aimed at boosting transition from copper fiber network to the 5G or fiber optic networks.
This, he observed, resulted in better tariffs and diversity in fixed and mobile service packages. He affirmed that the TRA strikes a balance between sustainability of growth and affordability of service prices.
The TRA released statistics about services offered by the telecommunications and postal sectors, projects completed in 2023 and the performance of fixed
and mobile telephone networks. It also outlined upcoming projects.
The TRA added that, in 2023, subscriptions went up by 3 percent in the communications sector, 3 percent in the mobile phones segment, 5 percent in mobile broadband sector, 3 percent in fixed telephone lines and 5 percent in fixed broadband categories.
The total revenues of the telecommunications sector in 2023 stood at about RO 851 million, up by 12 percent as against the figures of 2022. In the meantime, the total number of workers in companies licensed in the sector stood at 4,167, with a 94 percent Omanization rate, said the TRA in statements during the media briefing.
Giving more statics about 2023, the TRA pointed that the number of postal service companies rose by 31 percent rise to 63, while the total number of workers on permanent contracts in the firms stood at 1,676, with an Omanization rate of 78 percent.
The TRA also said that the total revenues of companies licensed to do business in the postal sector in Oman stood at RO 20.7
million in 2023, posting an increase of 14 percent compared to 2022 figures.
The TRA added that its most prominent initiatives during 2023 including devising determinants for investment in the infrastructure of fiber optic networks and requirements for drafting emergency management plans in the telecommunications sector. This was in addition to issuing regulations of public auctions for mobile phone numbers.
The TRA reported that it finalized procedures for the establishment of the early warning system in the coastal wilayats in cooperation with Civil Aviation Authority and operators. It also issued a first-class license to Starlink Muscat to provide fixed public telecommunications services.
In 2024, the TRA is focusing on improving communications services for the sectors of education, health, tourism, industry, transportation, environmental sustainability in the communications and postal sectors, innovation, research and development in the field of communications.
Source: Oman News Agency