Omantel faces government shake-up

Oman’s government has set up a ministerial committee to explore ways of restructuring incumbent telco Omantel to improve its performance. Minister of National Economy and deputy chairman of the Financial Affairs and Energy Resources Council, Ahmed bin Abdulnabi Macki has hinted at reducing the tax payable by Omantel to 7% on both fixed line and mobile operations, rather than the current 10% and 12% respectively. He said that other measures being considered are to sell a stake to an experienced strategic investor, and to restructure the board of directors to comprise representatives from the government who possess wide experience in the telecoms sector, whilst retaining members representing the private sector and those who were elected by the general assembly. The committee is also looking to streamline the compay’s administration by merging the boards of Omantel and cellular subsidiary Oman Mobile. Macki said that the government must look at ways of improving the performance and profitability of the incumbent telco due to its weight and importance on the local bourse, the Muscat Securities Market.