Muscat: The Workshop on Enhancing & Regulating Connectivity calls for ensuring that the Sultanate is in the forefront in the future of digital world.

The two-day workshop on Enhancing and Regulating Connectivity conducted by leading auditing and consulting firm Crowe, concluded at the Hormuz Grand hotel on Wednesday.

The delegates were mainly representatives from the Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRA), Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology (MTCIT), Oman Broadband, Omantel, Ooredoo, and Vodafone.

The Vice President of TRA, Omar Al Qatabi was the guest of honour.

Davis Kallukaran, managing partner of Crowe Oman, welcomed the gathering and said: “We now exist in a world of digital technology, which is transforming our lives, enabling more advanced services, and creating greater opportunities. It will require financial resources, world class oversight and our collective will to ensure Oman is in the strongest possible position in the future of the digital world.”

“Huge increases in data transmitted around our immediate environment and further into the distant space help us to understand more about our surroundings. The massive mobile telecommunications infrastructure such as 5G, cloud systems and data analytics, all point to a new world of big data and massive transaction volumes.”

“The cost of these developments is enormous, and the financial measurement and accounting in these sectors provides new challenges for scientists, policymakers, business managers and accountants. We need to understand what constitutes the space sector economy, how it should be measured and how market opportunities and risks should be assessed,” Kallukaran added.

Delivering the keynote address, Anna Coast, a finance professional specialising in regulatory consultations, accounting separation and radio spectrum valuations said, “The choice between new communication products and different connectivity solutions, run parallel with the increased complexity of the regulatory frameworks that aim to mimic the business dynamics, and provide extra stability through the legislative and policy framework.”

“It is becoming essential for customers, suppliers, and investors to understand the changing dynamics of the cost drivers, the viability of different technology solutions and how business models will need to evolve. Investment not only relates to traditional network assets, but also to operating costs and intangible assets such as spectrum, all of which affect the resultant return and risk profile,” she added.

Michael Byrne, an expert on regulation and competition law in the broadcasting, telecommunications, postal and energy sectors in the UK and Channel Islands, explored the evolving role of regulators at both national and international levels.

Prof. Hanna Rothkaehl, a senior space scientist in Poland, discussed some of the relevant issues related to space research, including the impact of space weather on connectivity.

Paul Kallukaran, Head of Technology at Crowe Oman, thanked the speakers and attendees for their insightful contribution to the event.

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