Oman is the latest country to announce plans to phase out 3G services. The country’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has said it will stop providing 3G mobile services gradually, starting from the third quarter of 2024.
Plans to end 3G mobile communications services from July 2024 are aimed, according to TRA, at allowing service providers to use 3G spectrum capacities for new technologies such as 4G and 5G. The suspension will take place gradually, beginning in the least populated areas of Oman.
According to TeleGeography's CommsUpdate, Oman has three mobile network operators: state-owned incumbent Oman Telecommunications Company (Omantel), Qatari-owned Ooredoo Oman and locally owned newcomer Oman Future Telecommunications, operating under the brand name Vodafone.
In the first six months of 2022, 21% out of 526,531 home fixed broadband subscriptions were via 5G wireless; 49% of fixed broadband subscriptions were in the Muscat Governorate. The metro area population of Muscat in 2022 is approximately 1,623,000. The country’s total population is estimated to be just under 5.5 million.
3G shutdown plans have been gathering pace this year, as we have reported in these pages; recent announcements have come from such diverse territories as Poland, South Africa and the Philippines.
