The Omani government has decided to increase the royalty fee payable by the country’s telecoms operators from the current rate of 7% of gross annual revenues to 12%, effective 1 January 2017. In a statement to the Muscat Securities Market, the Capital Market Authority (CMA) said it had received a letter from the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) stating that the Council of Ministers ‘has decided to return back the royalty percentage on all telecommunication operators in the Sultanate of Oman to 12% as specified in Royal Decrees, to be started from 2017.’
Following the announcement, Oman Telecommunications (Omantel) disclosed that a 12% royalty rate would have reduced its net profit by OMR16 million (USD41.5 million) for the first nine months of 2016, while Ooredoo Oman said the higher rate would have cost it OMR8.7 million over the same period.