Ooredoo’s role is to establish sustainable solutions, with a sound and future-proofed network infrastructure that can efficiently deliver services to customers, businesses and the government.
Greg Young
Chief Executive Officer, Ooredoo
The year 2014-2015 was a very significant year for us at Ooredoo. Dubbed the ‘Rebrand Year’, our operations underwent a significant shift during our global alignment with the Ooredoo Group, inspiring changes that were important from a customer experience perspective, as well as a strategic move in terms of developing the business. As a result, we were able achieve some incredible milestones, crowed by our sales reaching the highest ever to date. That said, Ooredoo’s socioeconomic contribution to the country remained sustainable and measurable, a goal we continue to strive for, making a positive and profound impact on the people and economy of Oman.
Much of our success, of course is underpinned by our network, which has grown to cover almost 99 per cent of the population. In fact, we have surpassed the RO124 million mark in terms of investment in our network modernisation; a project we began in 2012, and today have 3G/3G+ capabilities across the Sultanate as well a significant 4G footprint.
One instrumental element of our network development plans in 2014-2015 saw us connect Oman to the Indian subcontinent via underwater cabling stretching thousands of kilometres. We also recently demonstrated LTE advanced (4.5G); the next generation of 4G technology, which can deliver speeds up to 200+ Mbps and open the door to a whole new online experience for our customers. Our fixed service customers have also benefitted from our extensive countrywide upgrade to 4G technology and presently, over 95 per cent of Ooredoo’s Home Broadband services are delivered via a 4G signal.
We also introduced a number of Superfast Fibre home broadband packages, providing unlimited data and download speeds as high as 100Mbps; the fastest and most powerful residential broadband packages currently available in the market. We provided a number of innovative products and services to customers and businesses alike, as well as having a number of ‘first to market’ achievements. These include Oman’s first telecoms loyalty programme, which today, called ‘Nojoom’, provides our customers with great rewards, redeemable through our exciting Ooredoo Oman app. We also released our SmartWoman App and ‘Charge to Mobile’ service and our very own ‘eshop’ to name but a few; all aimed at empowering our customers with the means to lead their modern lifestyles with ease and convenience.
In addition to the enhancements of products, services, and our network reliability and strength, we extended our reach to customers with new market-leading platforms for feedback and enquiry, including some of the most popular social media sites in the country. This has helped us to keep our ‘finger on the pulse’, always knowing what our customers want and working on ways to implement their suggestions. We are committed to providing a customer experience second to none and by using initiatives such as our ‘Voice of the Customer’ programme, we have been able to do just that and more. This is certainly evidenced by our strong profits and increased customer numbers.
OMAN’S ICT LANDSCAPE
Oman has taken strides to deliver smarter technology solutions and develop its digital economy. What has been achieved to date clearly indicates that the Omani Government understands what it will take to become ‘digital’ and has thus put down plans to build a sustainable ICT infrastructure that will meet the needs of today and prepare for what tomorrow might bring. Based on our continued work with the Omani government in restructuring and developing the existing ICT infrastructure, we are confident that we will achieve our goal of advancing the government’s ICT strategy over the coming years.
Oman’s e-Governance initiative is one major project and example, which has the vision of transforming the Sultanate into an advanced, world-class e-government, one that has integrated and aligned and enables ministerial bodies and government entities to deliver better public services. As a network provider, Ooredoo’s role is to establish sustainable solutions, with a sound and future-proofed network infrastructure that can efficiently deliver services to customers, businesses and the government. Through the developed e-Governance Framework, including a clearly defined set of parameters and operational guidance, Ooredoo is able to ensure that the government’s IT projects and online systems sustain and extend the Information Technology Authority’s strategies and objectives as the nationwide infrastructure evolves. By facilitating better interaction between all, Ooredoo will help in empowering local communities and transforming the manner in which the Sultanate does business.