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Omantel selected as one of the Top Three Wholesale Operators in the World

Omantel, the leading telecom operator in the Sultanate of Oman has been recently selected as one of the top three wholesale operators in the world from a host Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO) perspective. This prestigious selection was announced during the annual MVNO World Congress which was held in Berlin, Germany.

Omantel had a strong presence in this global event through its effective participation. Eng. Yasser Redha Al Lawati, C/T Senior Manager National Account and Interconnection in the Wholesale Business Unit participated as a panelist and speaker. Yasser was part of a major panel discussion on "How to Make it Easier for the MVNO" in which he shared Omantel’s views on how to support MVNOs and help them to sustain and flourish. Yasser was also the only speaker from the Middle East and delivered Omantel presented its partnership with MVNOs (i.e. Mobile Resellers), which is proved to be a reference of success for the whole region.

"I am really honored having represented Omantel in the MVNO World Congress. It was indeed a great opportunity to share our rich experience on a global forum being the first operator in the Middle East to launch MVNOs back in 2009. The event provides a great chance to meet other business leaders and understand the developments of this important area of wholesale telecom business", Yasser Al Lawati commented. He added, that "We are proud that Omantel has been selected as one of the top three wholesale operators in the world along global giants such as Sprint and Orange. It is indeed a global recognition of our successful strategy in partnering with MVNOs and developing this business stream together. We take this opportunity to thank our MVNOs partners who played a major role in achieving this important milestone".

On the other hand, Caroline Broderick, the Research Director at Informa Telecoms & Media stated that "One of our priorities was to ensure that Omantel is taking part of the event. This is because Omantel is the pioneer host MVNO in the Middle East and has a very interesting success story to share. We knew that the world would be eager to hear from a regional wholesale leader such as Omantel. We look forward to continue to work together in the upcoming events and present the journey on MVNO industry and how Omantel along with its partners made it a huge success. The next collaboration with Omantel will be during MVNO Middle East event as part of the Middle East Telecom Summit on the 22nd and 23rd of September 2014 in Dubai”.

MVNOs refer to telecom service providers who do not own their own full-fledged telecom network. They have different forms depending on their license, business direction and technical setup. In Oman, the existing type of MVNOs is known as Mobile Resellers. They are Class II telecom licensees who do not have their own network elements. They buy telecom services on wholesale basis from Class I operators and package the services for retail with their own brand name. They have independent marketing, branding, sales and customer care functionalities.

The successful partnership model that was created between Omantel and the MVNOs helped both customers and the sector alike. The introduction of MVNOs has enabled extended reach to each and every segment in the market (especially those that were previously untapped) to benefit from tailored offerings as well as customized services. On the other hand, Omantel has been able to reverse a global phenomenon of decreasing network market share of incumbent operators as it was successful in increasing its network market-share to more than 58%, thanks to the victorious strategy and the win-win situation created for all parties.