Oman Broadband Company rides on existing infrastructure for broadband connections

The Oman Broadband Company (OBC), the agency tasked with laying of the fibreoptic cables for broadband connectivity in Oman, has launched a pilot project to provide high speed Internet services through the use of the existing communications infrastructure of the electricity utilities, the Oman News Agency has reported.

The project, launched in cooperation with Oman Electricity Transmission Company (OETC) and the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), will involve the fiberoptic cables from the high voltage towers in the wilayat of Bausher (Hamam Al Sunub).

Said bin Hamdoun al-Harthy, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Transport and Communications for Ports and Maritime Affairs, praised the pilot project for eliminating the need to perform groundworks and laying new cables and noted that the move will reduce time, effort and cost.

Said bin Abdullah al-Mantheri, CEO of OBC added that the mobile phone station in Bausher at Hamam Al Sunub had been chosen as the hub for the project as it is about 40m from the electricity transmission tower. He shared that fibreoptic cables would link the electricity transmission station, the mobile phone station and the Omantel network for about RO9,000 and would enable a 40 Mbps Internet connection, compared to the current 3 Mbps.