TeO targets Oman’s third full service licence

Omani telecoms operator Integrated Telecommunications Oman (TeO) has its sights set on becoming the Sultanate’s third full service provider, the firm’s CEO Gurkan Ozturk told the Muscat Daily. Earlier this year it was revealed that Sama Telecommunications (Samatel) had been renamed TeO and planned to relaunch its mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) services in September. ‘Our ultimate plan is to get the third full service [Class I] licence, and we will strive hard to get it,’ Ozturk has said, in a move that will see it compete with existing mobile network operators Oman Telecommunications (Omantel) and Ooredoo Oman. TeO currently provides over-the-top (OTT) services for international calls through Allo calling cards, but plans to launch commercial MVNO services later this year: ‘If everything goes according to the plan, we will have a full market launch by September. In April, we plan to have a big corporate launch where the company will reveal its full brand identity and brand proposition. We will be announcing details next month that we believe will change the Omani market.’ Ozturk also revealed that TeO is keen to roll out a direct fibre broadband network, adding that the firm is still awaiting permission from the regulator to begin offering voice-over-internet protocol (VoIP) services. ‘Fibre-to-the-home [FTTH] is where we believe the market will grow. People in Oman need to experience 10Mbps or 100Mbps download speeds. We are committed to invest in it right now, if we get the licence.’