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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

45pc rise in telecom royalties last year

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Royalties paid by telecom companies operating across various classes in the Sultanate jumped 45 per cent to RO 78.3 million in 2018, up from RO 53.9 million a year earlier, according to figures published by the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA).


The uptick is partly driven by an increase in the royalty rate set by the Omani government with effect from January 1, 2017 to 12 per cent of revenues, up from 7 per cent previously.


Royalties paid by Omantel and Ooredoo, the biggest telecom operators in the Sultanate, accounted for around 97 per cent of the total. The remainder was contributed by Awasr (Class I Fixed), Connecti Arabia and TeO (Class I International Gateway, Majan (Renna) and Friendi Mobile (Class II Mobile Resellers), and Rignet and Azyan Telecom (Class III Private Networks).


Late in 2016, the Council of Ministers decided to restore the royalty rate for telecom companies at 12 per cent as promulgated by Royal Decree as part of a series of revenue-boosting measures adopted by the government in response to the economic downturn triggered by the oil price crash of 2014. The measure had been put on hold for nearly a year before it was brought into force with effect from 2017.


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