Page 24 - SAMENA Trends - November-December 2019

REGIONAL & MEMBERS UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

development in crucial sectors, including speed network commercially. Meanwhile, data is transferred across the network to
education, health, and logistics. The Ooredoo too has been preparing for the 100 times faster than a cellular connection
announcement was made at the special transition to 5G wireless technology and 10 times faster than the speediest
‘5G Roadmap’ event organized by TRA, since 2017, rolling out operational trials, home broadband service. It will also pave
which discussed the planned rollout, demonstrations, and experience zones at the way for other new technologies such
legislative developments as well as the stores in Muscat and Salalah. 5G promises as autonomous vehicles, virtual reality and
readiness of operators to launch the super- to dramatically increase the speed at which the Internet of Things.

Omantel Taps into Growing Wholesale Market to Become a Global Provider

Omantel – the first and leading provider of integrated
telecommunication services in the Sultanate of Oman – is
gaining recognition for its fast-paced transformation from a
regional wholesale hub to a global provider. Last week, the
company received the ‘Best Middle Eastern Project’ award at
the Global Carrier Awards 2019 in London, UK. Organized by
Capacity Media, the Global Carrier Awards celebrates vision and
excellence in the global wholesale telecoms arena. Omantel
received this prestigious award for its ‘Global Wholesale
Transformation Project’ which commenced in 2018 and is set to
reshape the wholesale market in the Middle East & North Africa
(MENA) region and beyond, enabling global telecom carriers and
content players to reach further beyond traditional wholesale
telecom models. In recent years, Omantel has significantly
invested in technology, networks, and subsea cable deployments
to transform its ecosystem. In addition, Omantel has created
new collaborations to, directly and indirectly, serve millions of
customers as well as some of the largest enterprises, content
providers and carriers in the world. Sohail Qadir, VP Wholesale at
Omantel, commented on the achievement by stating, “The Global subsea cable in Marseille through Omantel France, a subsidiary of
Wholesale Transformation Project is a strategic and ambitious Omantel,” added Mr. Qadir. Similarly, the G2A subsea cable system
initiative building upon Oman’s unique geographical location and represented the first phase of Omantel’s expansion eastwards
Omantel’s integrated ecosystem to simplify access to the fastest- into the African continent, revolutionizing connectivity from
growing markets in the world. It enables our global partners to Oman to East Africa. The cable comprises of a 1,500 km subsea
have economically efficient and technically robust connectivity segment and a 1,500 km terrestrial segment with a capacity of
with low-latency networking and state-of-the-art facilities. This at least 20 Tbps with latest 100G technology. With the growth of
is achieved by openly offering flexible and customizable solutions its international operations, Omantel launched an international
to meet current and future demands our customers”. The award- wholesale company - Omantel International (OTI). As the first
winning project is based on various strategic pillars; Gulf to Africa phase, OTI manages the company’s international voice business
(G2A) Subsea Cable System, Asia Africa Europe-1 (AAE-1) Subsea and supports partners and customers with simple and efficient
Cable System, establishment of Omantel France and Omantel access to new and existing solutions. The coming phases would
International (OTI), introduction of International Network Operation see an increase in the scope and role of OTI as the capacity business
Centre (INOC) and deployment of Equinix Data Center. All of this is going to be gradually migrated to OTI as well as other value
is leading to a high standard integrated operation, which offers added services. Moreover, Omantel has launched an advanced
enhanced business solutions and greater customer experience. International Network Operation Centre (INOC) to ensure reliable
“AAE-1 is a game changer; it is one of the first and largest subsea connectivity for its expanding global network footprint. The center
cable systems in the world that uniquely connects Asia, Africa and operates 24/7/365 and troubleshoots network issues before they
Europe via Oman,” Mr. Qadir asserted. Spanning approximately can affect service quality. The operation center acts as a central
25,000 km, the AAE-1 subsea cable reaches areas that cover point of contact for customers and partners and provides them
almost half of the world’s population, with a design capacity of at with real-time information on end-to-end network availability
least 40 Tbps built on the latest 100Gbps technology. “The subsea and performance. It has full visibility into the 20 subsea cable
cable has eased access for world telecoms to emerging, yet systems in which Omantel has invested covering 120 locations
challenging markets. In addition, it has provided different regions around the world. It aims to ensure the highest possible uptime
with the much needed internet capacity and access to global of the network and deliver operational and customer experience
cloud services and applications. Furthermore, Omantel is proud excellence. Additionally, Omantel and Equinix have entered into
to be the first GCC telecom operator to establish a subsea cable a joint venture to bring the first world-class carrier-neutral data
landing station in Europe. This was achieved by landing the AAE-1 center to Oman, where carriers, content providers and cloud

24 NOVEMBER 2019