Page 46 - SAMENA Trends - January 2022

REGIONAL & MEMBERS UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

UAE Telecom Regulator Says Country's 5G Services Don't Disrupt Aircraft's

Navigation System

The UAE's Telecommunications and Dig- 5G mobile services in the country has no ter many airlines - including Emirates, Brit-
ital Government Regulatory Authority impact on the aircraft's navigation system. ish Airways, Air India, All Nippon Airways,
(TDRA) assured that the deployment of the The UAE regulator's statement comes af- Japan Airways and Lufthansa - suspend-
ed flights to the US, due to the rollout of
C-Band 5G service which could interfere
with sensitive aero plane instruments
such as altimeters and affect low-visibility
operations. But the US telecom operator
AT&T and Verizon later announced that
they would delay the deployment of the 5G
telecom services at the US airports so that
airlines can resume operations. The UAE
regulator clarified that this issue due to 5G
deployment is exclusively related to the US
airports referred to, as new spectrum fre-
quencies have been allocated to 5G that
differ from the frequencies designated for
use in our region, and there is no disruption
or interference in the UAE between 5G net-
works and air navigation systems.” TDRA
said it bases its 5G plans on studies that
take into account the safety of frequencies
and potential impact on other sectors. It
said 5G stations in the UAE have been in-
stalled in multiple places for many years,
and no negative impact on the safety of air
navigation systems has occurred.

Vodafone Oman Becomes Sultanate’s Third Mobile Network Operator

Vodafone Oman, which is owned by Oman Under the 15-year non-equity agreement, establish and operate public mobile
Future Telecommunications (OFT), has the pair will work together to roll out a new networks and services, while the following
launched commercial mobile operations mobile network and develop a number of September Ericsson signed an agreement
in the Sultanate, making it the country’s new services using the Vodafone brand with OFT to deploy, operate and maintain
third mobile network operator (MNO) in Oman. In January last year OFT was its new 4G and 5G core and greenfield
alongside Omantel and Ooredoo. The firm formally awarded its Class I license to radio access network (RAN).
says it has 5G network coverage across
Muscat and ‘ultrafast network coverage
all over the Sultanate of Oman’. Its tariff
launch offer includes a post-paid plan with
77GB of data, 777 voice minutes and 777
SMS per month for OMR9 (USD23.3) per
month. The shareholders of OFT represent
Omani institutions such as government
pensions and investment funds, as well
as private investors. TeleGeogography’s
GlobalComms Database states that
in September 2019 Vodafone Group
confirmed the signing of a strategic
partnership agreement with the OFT
consortium, as part of the UK-based
operator’s Partner Markets program.
46 JANUARY 2022