Omantel has announced robust financial results for 2024, showcasing significant growth in both its overall revenue and domestic operations.
The Group's consolidated revenue, including Zain Group's operations, reached OMR 3,030.1 million, indicating a 3% increase from the OMR 2,942.7 million recorded in 2023. Despite a 2.8% decline in net profit, decreasing from OMR 315.5 million in 2023 to OMR 306.8 million, Omantel's net profit attributable to shareholders grew by 4.4%, totaling OMR 78.1 million in 2024, compared to the OMR 74.8 million distributed in the previous year.
Domestic Performance
At the domestic level, Omantel reported a 2.7% revenue growth totaling OMR 622.6 million, driven by a 6% increase in mobile postpaid segment revenue and a 7% rise in fixed broadband revenues year-over-year (YoY). The net profit for domestic operations in 2024 reached OMR 69.4 million, up from OMR 68.1 million in 2023, marking a 1.9% growth fueled by positive impacts from settling financial claims related to pre-2020 services.
Zain Group Performance
Zain Group, a company in which Omantel holds a 21.9% stake as the second-largest shareholder, reported revenues of OMR 2,466.9 million for 2024, marking a 4.47% increase. EBITDA stood at OMR 861.4 million, while net profit reached OMR 313.9 million compared to the OMR 359.7 million recorded in the previous period.
An Overview of Omantel’s Journey in 2024
“Our operations are centred around providing valuable experience, driving our continuous journey of improvement and transformation,” stated Omantel CEO, Talal Said Al Mamari, in an exclusive interview with Telecom Review last year. “We view the challenges posed by disruptive technologies as tailwinds propelling us toward promising opportunities.”
Cloud innovations played a pivotal role in Omantel’s progress throughout 2024. In February, the company took a major step forward by announcing plans to build the National Cloud in strategic partnership with Huawei. This initiative marks a significant leap in Omantel’s cloud computing capabilities.
Designed to transform the digital landscape, the National Cloud will provide tailored solutions across the smart city, banking, education, healthcare, government data management, disaster recovery, and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven digital services sectors.
Furthermore, Omantel and AWS launched a plan to set up a Cloud Center of Excellence (CCoE) in Oman to create sovereign cloud capabilities throughout the Sultanate. Omantel is set to enhance Oman’s digital sovereignty by integrating AWS sovereign cloud capabilities, including access controls, guardrails, and encryption.
At COMEX 2024, the company forged two key partnerships with AWS and Google Cloud. Collaborating with AWS, Omantel will establish a sovereign cloud services center and develop an integrated e-commerce platform in Oman, valued at OMR 24 million. Meanwhile, its partnership with Google Cloud will bring the first distributed cloud edge service to the META region, enabling advanced generative AI (GenAI) and data analytics solutions.
Omantel also entered a multi-year contract with CC Energy Development (CCED). Omantel will provide cutting-edge, cloud-based solutions across CCED's financial, supply chain, and human capital management domains. The project aims to drive unprecedented levels of efficiency, innovation, business transformation, and competitiveness within Oman's oil and gas sector.
Moreover, Omantel seamlessly upgraded and migrated over 200 products and services across all its business lines to its partner’s convergent charging engine, hosted on Omantel’s private cloud.
In the second half of the year, Omantel launched its second-largest data center in Salalah, exhibiting the potential to significantly boost Oman’s digital infrastructure. This data center will interconnect with more than 10 submarine cables linking Salalah to Asia and Europe, alongside three relay centers, to deliver enhanced network support services in Salalah and the southern part of Oman.
Reaffirming its dedication to advancing Oman’s digital infrastructure, Omantel has successfully completed a 5G RedCap trial. This breakthrough enhances network efficiency and speed while reducing costs, delivering greater value and improved connectivity to Omantel customers.
“As Oman's first (and leading) integrated telecommunications provider, we aim to usher in the 5G-A era by maximizing network capabilities and enhancing user experiences and business applications,” shared Hani Al Mukhaini, Senior Manager of Network Design at Omantel.
As part of its commitment to supporting emerging digital startups, Omantel has partnered with the Musalih platform to deliver maintenance services across more than 65 retail outlets in Oman. This collaboration leverages skilled Omani talent, fostering local expertise and innovation.
Last year, Omantel also proudly declared that the company’s initiatives in the space industry are diverse, acknowledging that the sky is the limit when it comes to investments in this forward-looking sector. Its ambitious expansion into the space industry is reflected in its historic partnership agreement with Etlaq and focus on tapping into space-enabled technologies and satellite data to elevate its customer service.
Omantel Surges Forward: A Recap of 2023's Successes
