Muscat – Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) will soon introduce a business caller ID feature as part of efforts to curb fraudulent calls and improve consumer trust through advanced digital solutions.

The announcement was made during TRA’s annual media briefing on Wednesday held under the theme ‘Investing in Opportunities and Accelerating the Building of an Enhanced Digital Society’ which reviewed the authority’s 2024 achievements across the telecom and postal sectors.

Omar bin Hamdan al Ismaili, CEO of TRA, said new regulations would soon be issued to ensure accuracy of billing systems used by telecom operators in the sultanate.

Presenting key figures for the sectors, Ismaili said mobile subscriptions grew 7% in 2024 to 7.5mn, while Internet of Things (IoT) subscriptions surged 72% to 1.1mn. Fixed broadband subscriptions increased 2% and the number of 5G stations rose 12%.

A total of 6,500 telecom towers have been upgraded from 3G to 4G and 5G, and an additional 545 5G stations are expected to be built this year, taking the total to 5,856 – a 13% annual increase.

High-speed fixed broadband now covers 90% of residential units, with 97% of public schools also connected. Ismaili confirmed that all public schools in Oman now have full Internet coverage.

The telecom sector generated approximately RO920mn in revenues in 2024, up 4% compared to 2023. Revenues from the postal sector increased 3% to RO27.2mn.

Ismaili said the revenue growth reflects broader economic expansion and diversification of services. The number of companies licensed to provide telecom services rose 9% to 24, while those authorised to offer such services grew 63% to 399 with 72% of these being SMEs.

In the postal sector, the number of licensed operators increased 21% to 74 companies, 80% of which are SMEs. Incoming international postal shipments surged 60% in 2024 to 3.2mn.

Omanisation rates in the sectors remained high – 93% in telecom and 71% in postal services.

Ismaili noted that TRA secured a leading position among government service institutions for digital transformation, and that Oman advanced 26 places to rank 22nd globally in the Telecommunications Infrastructure Index. The sultanate also ranks among the world’s top 28 nations for average mobile data download speed.

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