Company Insights Omantel Telecoms Omantel Overview Oman Telecommunications Company (Omantel) is a a subsidiary of Oman Investment Authority (OIA) and the country’s primary internet provider. Omantel offers a range of services, including fixed-line, internet, mobile and wholesale communication services. It also provides data centre services and software as a service. In the 1990s Omantel increased its phone lines, expanded its fibre-optic network and in 1997 it became the country’s official internet provider. In 2017 Omantel acquired 12.1 percent of Kuwait’s Zain Group. Its stake, worth $2.19 billion, made it the second largest shareholder with 21.9 percent stake. Omantel and Zain Group then set up the Zain Omantel International (ZOI) joint venture. In 2023 Omantel signed a “strategic subsea capacity and connectivity” deal with state-owned China Telecom Global (CTG). It uses a mix of four terrestrial links across the Middle East, connectivity to more than 14 submarine cables and five separate landing stations in Oman. It was the first telecommunications operator in Oman to launch a 5G network. Omantel was previously known as the General Telecommunications Organisation. Omantel News Analysis Markets Oil IPO is latest step towards Oman’s emerging market status An Omani state oil company’s $2 billion initial public offering will boost the sultanate’s chances of eventually being reclassified as an emerging market by the world’s leading stock index providers. If achieved, Oman’s blue-chips will receive sizeable inflows from passive funds that track the MSCI and FTSE emerging market benchmarks, increasing bourse turnover and likely […] September 20, 2024 Trade Oman-China trade value hits $15bn Bilateral trade between Oman and China increased by 8 percent year on year in the first five months of 2024, reaching more than $15 billion, according to local media. Officials said during an Omani-Chinese friendship forum in the southern city of Salalah that the major joint projects with China currently being implemented in Oman are […] August 9, 2024 Banking & Finance Oman pushes $5.2bn plan to boost small business growth Oman has launched a OR2 billion ($5.2 billion) fund to encourage more investment in local small and medium-sized enterprises, as the sultanate looks to capitalise on a growth in support for startup businesses. The funding plan by the Oman Investment Authority follows on from the announcement of the Future Fund Oman last May, which aimed […] January 17, 2024 Banking & Finance GCC companies lead early sukuk moves in 2024 Saudi Arabia’s largest healthcare provider has announced plans to issue a riyal-denominated sukuk as analysts predict that $170 billion of the sharia-compliant bonds will be issued this year. Middle East Healthcare Company, the parent of Saudi German Health, said in a filing to the Saudi Stock Exchange that the offering size would be determined later, […] January 17, 2024 Infrastructure Gulf telcos sign deal to create $2bn tower company Telecom operators Ooredoo and Zain Group on Tuesday said agreements have been signed to create the largest tower company in the Middle East and North Africa. The cash and share deal, which also involves Dubai-based Tasc Towers Holding, will establish a company comprising 30,000 telecom towers in Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Iraq, Algeria and Tunisia, with […] December 5, 2023 Analysis Markets Strong demand for Oman’s biggest IPO in two decades Oman’s joint-biggest initial public offering is attracting huge interest among retail investors, despite subdued recent activity on Muscat’s bourse, a senior financial industry executive told AGBI. OQ Gas Network (OQGN), a subsidiary of national oil company OQ, will sell 49 percent – or 2.12 billion – of its shares in an IPO. The company this […] September 22, 2023 Tech Kuwait’s Zain ups stake in UAE’s telco tower company Kuwaiti telco Zain Group has increased its share in the UAE-based TASC Towers from 83.47 percent to 92.87 percent. The company will continue to operate independently with a board of non-Zain majority members, Zain Group vice-chairman and CEO Bader Nasser Al-Kharafi said in a statement to Boursa Kuwait. “Given the nature of Zain’s shareholding and […] September 18, 2023 Banking & Finance Cautious Oman’s SWF outperforms global markets Oman Investment Authority’s cautious approach to public market investing enabled it to significantly outperform global benchmarks last year, the sovereign fund’s annual report revealed on Wednesday. These gains helped the OIA, which was created in June 2020 following a government reshuffling of state-owned assets, to increase its portfolio value to OMR 17.9 billion ($46.5 billion) […] August 3, 2023 Manufacturing Talks begin to set up Mena’s largest telco tower venture Qatar’s Ooredoo, Kuwait’s Zain Group and UAE’s TASC Towers Holding have started talks to create one of the largest telecommunications tower companies in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena). The discussions seek to combine their 30,000 telecommunication tower assets in Qatar, Kuwait, Algeria, Tunisia, Iraq and Jordan into a jointly owned independent tower firm […] July 25, 2023 Infrastructure Chinese telco enters Gulf with Zain Omantel tie-up One of China’s biggest wireless mobile network operators will make its GCC debut through a connectivity agreement with Zain Omantel International. State-owned China Telecom Global (CTG) signed the deal with Zain Omantel International (ZOI), a joint venture formed in May by Kuwait’s Zain Group and Oman’s Omantel. The deal with CTG is a “strategic subsea […] July 12, 2023 Posts navigation 1 2 Next
Analysis Markets Oil IPO is latest step towards Oman’s emerging market status An Omani state oil company’s $2 billion initial public offering will boost the sultanate’s chances of eventually being reclassified as an emerging market by the world’s leading stock index providers. If achieved, Oman’s blue-chips will receive sizeable inflows from passive funds that track the MSCI and FTSE emerging market benchmarks, increasing bourse turnover and likely […] September 20, 2024
Trade Oman-China trade value hits $15bn Bilateral trade between Oman and China increased by 8 percent year on year in the first five months of 2024, reaching more than $15 billion, according to local media. Officials said during an Omani-Chinese friendship forum in the southern city of Salalah that the major joint projects with China currently being implemented in Oman are […] August 9, 2024
Banking & Finance Oman pushes $5.2bn plan to boost small business growth Oman has launched a OR2 billion ($5.2 billion) fund to encourage more investment in local small and medium-sized enterprises, as the sultanate looks to capitalise on a growth in support for startup businesses. The funding plan by the Oman Investment Authority follows on from the announcement of the Future Fund Oman last May, which aimed […] January 17, 2024
Banking & Finance GCC companies lead early sukuk moves in 2024 Saudi Arabia’s largest healthcare provider has announced plans to issue a riyal-denominated sukuk as analysts predict that $170 billion of the sharia-compliant bonds will be issued this year. Middle East Healthcare Company, the parent of Saudi German Health, said in a filing to the Saudi Stock Exchange that the offering size would be determined later, […] January 17, 2024
Infrastructure Gulf telcos sign deal to create $2bn tower company Telecom operators Ooredoo and Zain Group on Tuesday said agreements have been signed to create the largest tower company in the Middle East and North Africa. The cash and share deal, which also involves Dubai-based Tasc Towers Holding, will establish a company comprising 30,000 telecom towers in Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Iraq, Algeria and Tunisia, with […] December 5, 2023
Analysis Markets Strong demand for Oman’s biggest IPO in two decades Oman’s joint-biggest initial public offering is attracting huge interest among retail investors, despite subdued recent activity on Muscat’s bourse, a senior financial industry executive told AGBI. OQ Gas Network (OQGN), a subsidiary of national oil company OQ, will sell 49 percent – or 2.12 billion – of its shares in an IPO. The company this […] September 22, 2023
Tech Kuwait’s Zain ups stake in UAE’s telco tower company Kuwaiti telco Zain Group has increased its share in the UAE-based TASC Towers from 83.47 percent to 92.87 percent. The company will continue to operate independently with a board of non-Zain majority members, Zain Group vice-chairman and CEO Bader Nasser Al-Kharafi said in a statement to Boursa Kuwait. “Given the nature of Zain’s shareholding and […] September 18, 2023
Banking & Finance Cautious Oman’s SWF outperforms global markets Oman Investment Authority’s cautious approach to public market investing enabled it to significantly outperform global benchmarks last year, the sovereign fund’s annual report revealed on Wednesday. These gains helped the OIA, which was created in June 2020 following a government reshuffling of state-owned assets, to increase its portfolio value to OMR 17.9 billion ($46.5 billion) […] August 3, 2023
Manufacturing Talks begin to set up Mena’s largest telco tower venture Qatar’s Ooredoo, Kuwait’s Zain Group and UAE’s TASC Towers Holding have started talks to create one of the largest telecommunications tower companies in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena). The discussions seek to combine their 30,000 telecommunication tower assets in Qatar, Kuwait, Algeria, Tunisia, Iraq and Jordan into a jointly owned independent tower firm […] July 25, 2023
Infrastructure Chinese telco enters Gulf with Zain Omantel tie-up One of China’s biggest wireless mobile network operators will make its GCC debut through a connectivity agreement with Zain Omantel International. State-owned China Telecom Global (CTG) signed the deal with Zain Omantel International (ZOI), a joint venture formed in May by Kuwait’s Zain Group and Oman’s Omantel. The deal with CTG is a “strategic subsea […] July 12, 2023
