JEDDAH — Oman’s telecom sector expanded by 15.2 percent by May 2025, driven by surging mobile subscriptions reaching 8.13 million and a remarkable 118.7 percent increase in Internet of Things (IoT) connections to 1.55 million, according to the National Center for Statistics and Information. This growth underscores the rising demand for smart connectivity in sectors like logistics, utilities, and manufacturing.
Central to Oman’s Vision 2040, the country’s digital infrastructure development focuses on innovation, economic diversification, and enhancing public services. Fiber optic and fixed 5G subscriptions have grown steadily, marking a shift toward advanced high-speed connectivity.
Mordor Intelligence attributes this momentum to significant public investments, including a $441.5 million digital transformation initiative launched in 2022 aimed at modernizing public services and delivering seamless smart government offerings. The Digital Economy Program projects the digital sector’s GDP contribution to rise from 3 percent in 2025 to 10 percent by 2040.
Oman’s Government Digital Transformation Program, Tahawul, has achieved 73 percent overall performance as of November 2024, up from 53 percent the previous year, digitizing thousands of public services. Four key agencies, including the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, have reached advanced digital excellence.
Telecom subscription data shows postpaid mobile connections increased 5.6 percent to 1.23 million, prepaid rose 3.1 percent to over 5.33 million, and mobile broadband subscriptions hit 5.41 million. Fixed broadband subscriptions grew 2.6 percent to 588,015, with fiber optic services up 11.4 percent to 339,279 and fixed 5G connections increasing by 2.1 percent to 215,850. However, legacy technologies like fixed 4G and satellite Internet saw declines.
Major infrastructure projects such as the unified e-government portal and the National Digital Integration Platform—which has processed over 1.4 billion data transactions—are accelerating Oman’s smart services. Digital government transactions surged to nearly 27 million in 2024, with the government targeting 80 percent of essential services to be fully online by 2025.
