Vodafone to launch Omani network with government partner

Vodafone on Thursday confirmed it has begun development of a new Vodafone Oman network as it announced a strategic partnership agreement with Oman Future Telecommunications, a government telecoms entity.

The non-equity agreement, which was won through the company's Partner Markets programme, will see the two companies cooperate on rolling out a new mobile network using the Vodafone brand in a bid to drive the next stage in the development of Oman's telecommunications market.

The development of the new network will begin immediately, with a commercial launch slated for the second half of next year.

Jacek Passia, Vodafone's regional executive and programme director, said: "We are going to bring the best of Vodafone's innovation, services and expertise to Oman. We will build Vodafone Oman to provide the best possible customer experience. The launch of Vodafone Oman will be delivered by a joint team of Vodafone and local Omani personnel, as upskilling of the Omani workforce is a key focus of our partnership."

Vodafone shares were down 1.53% at 154.56p at 1006 BST.