OBC pilots broadband access through power network

Oman Broadband Company (OBC) has launched in cooperation with Oman Electricity Transmission Company (OETC) and the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) a pilot project to provide high speed internet services using the fibre-optic cable infrastructure of electricity companies. Oman Tribune quotes Said bin Abdullah Al Mantheri, CEO of OBC, as saying that the project is being carried out in Hamam Al Sunub in the wilayat of Bausher, and involves the extension of fibre-optic cables between an Omantel mobile phone tower and an electricity transmission station. The network provides an internet connection of up to 40Mbps, compared to the previous speed of 3Mbps. TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database notes that state-owned OBC has been licensed by the TRA to provide the infrastructure in accordance with the plans and objectives of a new National Broadband Strategy (NBS), which was formally approved by the government in September 2013.