Fixed broadband subs exceeded 75,000 in 2011

Oman’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has reported that the Sultanate ended 2011 with a total of 78,214 fixed broadband subscribers, an increase of 20% quarter-on-quarter, while dial-up subscribers declined 15% to 10,846 over the same period. The regulator said that mobile broadband customers (defined as ‘mobile subscribers with unique 3G-supported devices’) reached 2.14 million at 31 December 2011, an increase of 11% over the previous quarter. Fixed voice lines at the end of 2011 totalled 287,323, compared to 281,755 twelve months earlier, the majority of which (181,875) were residential lines. According to the TRA, total mobile telephony subscribers rose from 4.606 million at the end of 2010 to 4.809 million twelve months later, corresponding to a penetration rate of 173.4% at 31 December 2011. Pre-paid services accounted for the lion’s share (91%) of total wireless subscriptions, which include customers of wireless service resellers.