A Vodafone Oman perspective: how new generation telco creates value through sustainability; excellence in customer service and in-country investments.

By Bader Al Zidi, CEO, Vodafone Oman

Since we launched Vodafone in Oman early this year, we have been determined to do things differently – and digitally. Our huge competitive advantage has so far proved to be our status as a greenfield digital operator, setting a benchmark in the Sultanate and the region on how a company can be fully digital.

This plugs into several trends dictating the direction of play in the telecommunications industry across the globe as we approach 2023 – not least bridging the digital divide and integrating sustainability into the fabric of our business.

These topics, and many more that are shaping the industry, were high on the agenda this month when I had the privilege to attend the 16th edition of the Telecom Review Leaders’ Summit in Dubai. I was honoured to be invited to participate in the high-level ICT Leaders panel discussion, alongside key regional and international industry experts from Netcracker Technology/BostonGene, stc Kuwait, salam, Nokia, Orange Egypt and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

Leadership in the industry is dear to my heart as CEO of Vodafone in Oman. A key objective behind the Oman Government’s decision to introduce a third telecom player into the Omani market was to fast track the country’s digital journey by attracting an innovation leader in the industry – and Vodafone is that leader.

Traditional telecommunications have centred on selling services (i.e. voice/data) – but we believe the game is changing. As a greenfield digital operator, we have the built-in agility to better serve customers.

Our digital business model makes our offering unique, with fully digital onboarding; e-stores; highly customised digital solutions regarding customer care/complaints; fully integrated IT and networks; and subscription-based services.

The value-add of yesterday is the basic of today and we need to bring a new dimension to the table, giving customers what they need – for example, through our partnership with Tamimah, we are providing access to government services such as high school results and payment for parking.

How 5G is enabling the future, now

Widespread 5G networks are now essential to provide the connectivity demanded by 21st-century consumers. Our network was built on 5G from day one – one of the first in Oman to have this technology already built in.

To date, we have managed to cover the whole of Muscat Governorate all the way to Qurayyat with our own fully 5G networks. In 2023, we will complete North Al Batinah, Dhofar and the Duqm Special Economic Zone.

We have prioritised partnerships with national, regional and global organisations to bring in the expertise and value we require – and to operate at the high levels of service that consumers increasingly demand from their networks.

These partners include Ericsson, to facilitate data-driven decisions and AI-based solutions in Oman, increasing network agility and customer satisfaction.

We have an agreement with Oman Data Park to enable technology to serve the national economy in line with Oman Vision 2040; and a deal with Whisbi for provision of customer care services via video calls.

In-Country Value (ICV) creation is also what makes us different. We have managed to achieve this by creating local partnerships amounting to more than OMR 60 million since the time of our launch.

For example, instead of building our own telecom towers, we have leased tower capacity from Oman Tower Company, a local Omani tower. Likewise, fibre connecting our sites has been leased from Oman Broadband, another state-owned company. This not only helps to reduce costs, which can be passed on as savings to our customers, but also makes us a greener organisation with a smaller environmental footprint.

Tech for genuine progress, not for tech’s sake

Where we are using the latest digital technologies, it is not only because it is ‘trend’ or available, but because it is helping to make our digital services truly transformative – particularly those now available to us as part of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

We have put together one of the largest Big Data and analytics clusters in Oman, keeping up with the latest technology demands to keep our network and users secure.

The supporting figures are fittingly large: over 300,000 mobile users, 3.5 billion events per 24 hours, more than 70 billion processed with machine learning.

Earlier this month, indeed, Vodafone in Oman’s Cyber Security operations were recognised with a prestigious award at Oman’s 2nd Big Data & Analytics Meet.

The My Vodafone app is allowing us to make incredible strides in terms of data points. Again, the numbers are impressive. Oman has a approximate population of 4.5 million people. In total, there have been close to 1.5 million downloads of the My Vodafone app in Oman, which equates to a third of the population, and we enjoy a high conversion rate – it is an incredible resource.

How we are using that data is nothing short of a revelation for the customer experience. For example, in a traditional set-up, a customer with a complaint typically calls the call centre, which creates a ticket and starts the rectification process. At Vodafone, the AI-enabled networks sense something is amiss, automatically analyses failures through data analysis, and creates tickets for dispatch to the network operation centre. This saves a lot of time for affected customers.

We have succeeded in pre-empting problems for our customers. And the way we charge for data is quite different from other operators, which means our customers’ data GBs last longer compared to others.

Our scale also aids fantastic value and positive movements in the local market. Vodafone is the world’s second-largest telecoms operator. Since our entry into the Omani market, we have already seen overall retail prices of the industry’s products and services ease slightly. People are getting more value for their money. It has helped create a positive outlook for the Omani telecoms sector.

We are a business that is set up for the future – we are lean, efficient, agile and uncomplicated. This sets us up to be profitable and adaptable – which is essential for the survival of any business. Our work continues apace and I’m excited to see what the future will bring as we move into 2023 – a future that Vodafone in Oman is uniquely set up to catalyse.