Omantel plans to expand its broadband network

Also on the cards is a re-launch of the dial-up service incorporating several "new and attractive features" for the customer, a key official of the company said.

Acting Director of Marketing and Product Development Mohanned bin Dawood Al Asfoor said Omantel was currently in the process of drawing up a new Internet strategy to meet present and future needs of the market. The move, he added, was also a part of the company's efforts to lend full support to the ongoing e-government project and nationwide 'Digital Society' campaign.

One of the main components of the new scheme, Asfoor said, would be increasing capacity of the broadband service and extending it to cover all parts of the country to meet the growing number of Internet subscribers. He added the new plans also included reintroducing the dial-up service in a "more attractive and useful manner" so that it fully catered for subscribers' requirements.

Meanwhile, the wireless fixed line service, known as the Wireless Local Loop (WLL), is being extended to more and more villages in remote regions which are difficult to connect through traditional methods. Asfoor said the facility had now reached many villages with tough topography, adding that it was being extended to new locations regularly.