Oman's Nawras: 4G testing has started

Omani Qatari Telecommunications, known as Nawras, has started testing 4G technology to offer it to its customers, CEO Ross Cormack has said. In comments published by Oman News Agency, he said 3G coverage by the company in the sultanate now stood at 53 percent, compared to 87 percent for broadband. After launching 3G in 2007, Nawras was keen to expand the service to customers across the country, Cormack added. He did not say when he hoped the 4G network would go live. Fourth generation networks will be able to deliver high speed data downloads including high definition (HD) broadband and mobile TV services. Cormack said the number of subscribers with Nawras stood at 1.9 million by the end of 2011 while the number of fixed line customers totalled 27,000. In the final quarter of last year, operators in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE launched Long-term evolution (LTE) networks, also called 4G. Both Oman and Bahrain have been lagging behind due to delays in regulators allocating the spectrum for next-generation high speed networks, it was reported last year. Earlier this week, Bahrain's regulator said it expects to release frequencies for high-speed next-generation telecoms networks in March 2013.