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Omantel once again named the Middle East Regional Operator of the Year

Muscat: Sep 19 2021: Prestigious recognitions continue for Omantel as Oman’s telecommunications giant stays on its course of superior services, expansion, innovation and being an enabler in the Sultanate’s digital transformation. Omantel has been named the “Middle East Regional Operator of the Year” for the second consecutive year at the Carrier Community Global Awards, announced in Berlin during the month of September 2021.

This international recognition reflects the company’s unmatched success on the Wholesale front and Omantel’s overall outstanding performance. The award is a testimony to Omantel’s sustained efforts towards strategic global wholesale integration programs, further underscoring its forward-looking approach.

Speaking about the achievement, Sohail Qadir, Vice President Wholesale Business Unit at Omantel, said, “We are extremely delighted and honoured to win the Middle East Regional Operator of the Year Award for the second consecutive year. We would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank the Carrier Community for this important recognition which shows their trust in Omantel. It is indeed a remarkable achievement and a true reflection of the continuity and sustainability of our work. This comes as a natural result of several successful initiatives and projects on the wholesale domain as well as the collective performance of the company. The future looks bright, and we are working on various unique opportunities that will keep us in the leading position of the wholesale industry in the region and further strengthen our global presence”.

On the other hand, Wida Schmidt, the Co-Founder of the Carrier Community commented, “Our fifth edition of the Carrier Community Global Awards recently took place in Berlin. We keep observing increased participation and higher demand which reflects the successful growth and engagement that our events are generating in the carrier and wholesale industry. Omantel has always been a key player in the wholesale domain and we see that their role is becoming more significant and noticeable year after another. Our judges panel, formed by high profile industry experts, found merit in rewarding Omantel for their extraordinary achievements through the Middle East Regional Operator of the Year award. We are confident that Omantel will continue to effectively contribute in modernizing the wholesale industry in the MENA region and take it to the next level”.

Through its Wholesale Business Unit, Omantel serves local and international telecom operators by providing them with state-of-the-art telecom solutions in terms of interconnection, internet access, connectivity, infrastructure, roaming, and more. Omantel Wholesale has undergone an extraordinary transformation journey over the last decade, from being a party dependent on other regional wholesale providers for fulfilling its own requirements to becoming a main wholesale provider serving telecom operators and content providers locally, regionally, and globally.

Such a remarkable transformation was achieved through an ambitious and well-defined strategy that capitalized on Oman’s unique geographical location, attracted investments in human and network assets and created new business models. All of this resulted in gradually changing the wholesale landscape and eventually made Omantel Wholesale the industry leader.

Instead of relying on individual projects, Omantel Wholesale introduced the “Global Wholesale Integration Program”, a comprehensive program focused on various wholesale strategic pillars such as:

  • Building an international, diversified and high-capacity submarine network connecting Oman with the rest of the world. This network includes investments in more than 20 global submarine cable systems with reachability to more than 120 cities across the globe. Omantel also became the first GCC operator to land a submarine cable in the European Union through its landing station in Marseille under the AAE-1 submarine cable which is one of the largest systems of its kind.
  • International Network Operations Centre (INOC), a state-of-the-art 24/7 facility that is specifically tailored to meet the needs of the cloud and content-centric market besides monitoring and supporting Omantel’s international terrestrial or submarine cable systems.
  • MC1, the region’s first carrier-neutral data centre located in Barka, in partnership with Equinix, the world’s leading international data centre operator.
  • Continuous rollout of international roaming with more than 685 operators in over 210 countries in addition to the recently introduced 5G data roaming services.
  • Omantel International (OTI), which is an international wholesale company managing the group’s international voice carrier business as well as international value-added services.

These game-changing approaches, to name a few, have thrust Omantel into the wholesale leadership position. As a result, the biggest international telecom operators and content providers are partnering with the company and even hosting their regional servers in Oman. Consequently, almost 80% of the internet access of Omantel’s users is now served locally. Such partnerships, in addition to business and economic benefits, are directly linked to enhanced customer experience on all fronts including access to high-speed internet and gaming.

The Global Wholesale Integration Program is dynamic and keeps evolving to cover the future needs of Omantel and its clients. It undergoes continuous updates and enhancements to stay on par with global developments.

In addition to excellence in wholesale, Omantel has demonstrated success in various other domains. It is the first telecom operator to launch 5G (fixed and mobile) in Oman and open the doors to new possibilities. It has introduced Omantel Innovations Labs to nurture talent and convert creative ideas into realities. The company continuously works on enhancing services, offers and customer experience.

About Omantel Wholesale:

Omantel Wholesale is the international and domestic wholesale arm of Oman Telecommunications Company S.A.O.G. (Omantel), the first and leading integrated telecommunications service provider in Oman.

Founded in 1970, Omantel is a joint-stock company listed in Muscat Securities Market and is 51% owned by Oman Investment Authority (OIA), a wholly owned investment arm of the Omani government.

Omantel has investments in 20+ submarine cable systems globally. 5 unique submarine cable landing stations in Oman and Outbound connectivity of multiple terrestrial links to neighbouring countries. It is the first and only GCC carrier to land a submarine cable in Europe.

Omantel Wholesale capitalizes on ultra-low latency networks to enable innovation and digital transformation globally, utilizing Oman’s geographic advantage at the absolute nexus of the east, west, north, and south to enable its customers and partners to deliver their services with the best possible end-user experience.

For more information, please visit www.omantel.om/Wholesale.