Fixed-mobile convergence model pushed forward by Vodafone win

Nawras is expected to be awarded Oman’s second fixed-line licence following confirmation earlier this week that a consortium including the UK’s Vodafone Group had won Qatar’s second fixed-line telephone licence.

Representatives from Vodafone and Qatar Foundation picking up the first prize in the mobile licence award process in June 2008

Last month Oman’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority announced that six international telecoms operators and consortia had been short-listed for the sultanate’s second fixed-line licence. Ten parties had expressed interest in the licence by the August 25 deadline for submissions of interest.

“There’s a real drive amongst regulators in the region for the creation of a fixed-mobile converged play, so second mobile entrants are likely to be first in line for any fixed-line licences that come up,” an informed source told Comm.

Qatar’s telecoms regulator, ictQatar, said in December the fixed-licence would be sold for a fixed fee of QAR10 million (US$2.8 million) and the winner was supposed to have been selected in April.

A consortium led by Vodafone, and also partnered by the Qatar Foundation, was awarded Qatar’s second mobile licence in December, and is set to launch commercial services by March 2009.

According to Qatar’s national regulator, ictQatar, its decision to award the country’s fixed line licence to the Vodafone/Qatar Foundation consortium came after a comprehensive comparative evaluation based on published criteria of applications from the Jordan Telecom consortium and the PCCW-QIPCO consortium

The winner of the second fixed-line licence is due to launch services in 2009.