Page 26 - SAMENA Trends - September 2021

REGIONAL & MEMBERS UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

became the first GCC operator to land a
submarine cable in the European Union
through its landing station in Marseille
under the AAE-1 submarine cable which
is one of the largest systems of its kind.
• International Network Operations Centre
(INOC), a state-of-the-art 24/7 facility
that is specifically tailored to meet
the needs of the cloud and content-
centric market besides monitoring and
supporting Omantel’s international
terrestrial or submarine cable systems.
• MC1, the region’s first carrier-neutral
data center located in Barka, in
partnership with Equinix, the world’s
leading international data center
to Omantel’s sustained efforts towards Regional Operator of the Year award. We operator.
strategic global wholesale integration are confident that Omantel will continue • Continuous rollout of international
programs, further underscoring its to effectively contribute in modernizing roaming with more than 685
forward-looking approach. Speaking the wholesale industry in the MENA region operators in over 210 countries in
about the achievement, Sohail Qadir, Vice and take it to the next level”. Through addition to the recently introduced
President of Wholesale Business Unit at its Wholesale Business Unit, Omantel 5G data roaming services.
Omantel, said, “We are extremely delighted serves local and international telecom • Omantel International (OTI), which is
and honoured to win the Middle East operators by providing them with state- an international wholesale company
Regional Operator of the Year Award for of-the-art telecom solutions in terms managing the group’s international
the second consecutive year. We would of interconnection, internet access, voice carrier business as well as
like to take this opportunity to sincerely connectivity, infrastructure, roaming, and international value-added services.
thank the Carrier Community for this more. Omantel Wholesale has undergone These game-changing approaches, to
important recognition which shows their an extraordinary transformation journey name a few, have thrust Omantel into
trust in Omantel. It is indeed a remarkable over the last decade, from being a party the wholesale leadership position. As a
achievement and a true reflection of the dependent on other regional wholesale result, the biggest international telecom
continuity and sustainability of our work. providers for fulfilling its own requirements operators and content providers are
This comes as a natural result of several to becoming a main wholesale provider partnering with the company and even
successful initiatives and projects on the serving telecom operators and content hosting their regional servers in Oman.
wholesale domain as well as the collective providers locally, regionally, and globally. Consequently, almost 80% of the internet
performance of the company. The future Such a remarkable transformation was access of Omantel’s users is now served
looks bright, and we are working on various achieved through an ambitious and well- locally. Such partnerships, in addition
unique opportunities that will keep us in the defined strategy that capitalized on Oman’s to business and economic benefits, are
leading position of the wholesale industry unique geographical location, attracted directly linked to enhanced customer
in the region and further strengthen our investments in human and network assets experience on all fronts including access
global presence”. On the other hand, and created new business models. All of to high-speed internet and gaming. The
Wida Schmidt, the Co-Founder of the this resulted in gradually changing the Global Wholesale Integration Program is
Carrier Community commented, “Our fifth wholesale landscape and eventually made dynamic and keeps evolving to cover the
edition of the Carrier Community Global Omantel Wholesale the industry leader. future needs of Omantel and its clients.
Awards recently took place in Berlin. We Instead of relying on individual projects, It undergoes continuous updates and
keep observing increased participation Omantel Wholesale introduced the enhancements to stay on par with global
and higher demand which reflects the “Global Wholesale Integration Program”, developments. In addition to excellence
successful growth and engagement that a comprehensive program focused on in wholesale, Omantel has demonstrated
our events are generating in the carrier and various wholesale strategic pillars such as: success in various other domains. It is the
wholesale industry. Omantel has always • Building an international, diversified first telecom operator to launch 5G (fixed
been a key player in the wholesale domain and high-capacity submarine and mobile) in Oman and open the doors
and we see that their role is becoming network connecting Oman with to new possibilities. It has introduced
more significant and noticeable year after the rest of the world. This network Omantel Innovations Labs to nurture talent
another. Our judges panel, formed by high includes investments in more than and convert creative ideas into realities.
profile industry experts, found merit in 20 global submarine cable systems The company continuously works on
rewarding Omantel for their extraordinary with reachability to more than 120 enhancing services, offers and customer
achievements through the Middle East cities across the globe. Omantel also experience.

26 SEPTEMBER 2021