Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) of Oman issues 5 new licences to basic mobile service resellers.

TRA issues 5 new licences to basic mobile service resellers

In the framework of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA)'s policies aimed at enhancing liberalization of the telecommunications sector in the Sultanate, and in its effort to provide a wide variety of telecom services in the Sultanate, the TRA has issued on the morning of Saturday June 28th 2008 a statement on the granting of five class II licences to five companies as resellers of basic mobile services in the Sultanate.

In its statement, the TRA said that the five granted licenses are for a period of five years, but extendable. The TRA statement said the licensees can resell basic mobile services after buying airtime from operators at bulk rates in accordance with commercial agreements concluded with the operators. These services can then be rebranded and offered to subscribers at retail rates.

The TRA added that, licensees have the option of programming and issuing their own branded SIM cards or relying on the host operators to provide their programmed SIMs. Additionally, the licensees can independently recharge the products and services distributed by them, or utilise the infrastructure of the host operator. Billing and invoicing may also be independently handled by the licensee or by the host operator.

Mohsin bin Alawi al Hafeedh, TRA Member, said "the new Class II licences were expected to boost demand for basic mobile services as the resellers target new subscriber segments through enhanced marketing strategies."

The TAR member said, "the infrastructure serving basic mobile services is expected to grow as well, and hoped hope that the new licences would help bring down prices and further diversify of the offered mobile services to subscribers."

AL Hafeedh added, "under the license terms, the new firms are obliged to earmark a minimum of 65 per cent of all jobs for Omanis during the first year of operation. They must also set up contact centre to respond to customer queries and complaints".

It's worth mentioning that the five licences are granted to Injaz International, Kalam Telecommunications, Majan Telecom, Mazoon Mobile and Arabia connect (FriNDi mobile ) .

The telecommunications Regulatory Authority is a corporate body established under the telecommunications Regulatory Act issued under Royal Decree No.30/2002 as a result of the Government’s initiative to liberalize the telecom sector in Oman.

The TRA’s mission is to set up and implement a fair, flexible, efficient telecommunications regulatory framework, develop the industry through a market-driven environment, ensure accessibility of all kinds of services within limits to all, balance the interests of all stakeholders and align with Vision 2020.

For further information please contact

Mr. Hafidh bin Nasser Al Maskary

Media and Consumer Affairs Manager

Tel: +968 24574339

E-mail: hafidh@tra.gov.om

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