The Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRA) will be carrying out a review of the telecom market in Oman and identify constraints to competition as well as prevent abuse of dominant position by operators.
The authority is commissioning a consultancy project to assist it to carry out second ‘Market Review’ covering all steps for Market Definition and Dominance Decision (MDD). The first such review was carried out in 2013.
TRA, therefore, is inviting experienced consultants to submit their consultancy proposals for the subject tender by August 28. The consultant will review all previously defined markets (retail and wholesale) and propose introduction of new markets, where required, for fixed, mobile and data services over which TRA has regulatory oversight.
“The consultant is expected to identify the competitive conditions affecting the supply of the services by assessing systematically the competitive constraints faced by suppliers of these services. Where dominance is identified, the consultant is expected to propose measure that should be implemented to prevent abuse of dominant position,” the TRA stated.
Although, TRA identified markets and the licensees who were dominant in its MDD Decision 2013, it is not sure if these markets or dominance in these markets remain the same.
Since 2013, the telecom market of Oman has witnessed many developments including, but not limited to, introduction of new players, introduction of new services, change in substitutability of services and level of competition.
“TRA is also cognisant of new concepts (e.g. Over-The-Top content, IP interconnection, Internet of Things, cloud computing, Internet exchange points etc.) that directly or indirectly has impact on the market reviews. As such, market definitions and dominant positions may have changed since the last market assessment. It may also be noted that the MDD Decision of 2013 is also due to be revised in 2018, therefore TRA now intends to review all existing and potential new markets,” it said.