Fifth reseller in Oman licensed

Less than a month after being fined OMR100,000 (US$260,000) by Oman’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) over a complaint by Injaz International Telecom Company that it had refused to conclude an agreement to provide resale services, network operator Nawras has concluded an agreement with Injaz.

Injaz becomes the fifth licensed reseller in Oman behind Friendi Mobile, Renna, Mazoon and Samatel, with three of the licensees currently operational. Amongst them they count fewer than 300,000 mobile subscribers, representing a market share of around 10 per cent. Friendi Mobile and Renna utilise Oman Mobile’s network in order to offer their respective services, while the other three resellers purchase capacity from Nawras.

“Competition is going to be very tough and I doubt that all five resellers will succeed,” commented a telecom insider in Oman. “The resellers that launched first will be anticipating a challenging 2010 with all the new players entering the market.”