500,000 customers in less than two years!
Join the fastest growing family in Oman

Nawras, the Sultanate's customer-friendly communications provider, held a fun-filled event this afternoon, to celebrate welcoming the 500,000th customer to its ‘fast-growing family’. Bringing together management, staff, customers, distributors and press, the party at the Crowne Plaza, focused on proudly celebrating the monumental milestone of reaching over 500,000 Nawras customers in the incredibly short time of just 21 months! Viewed from any perspective, zero to half a million customers since launching in March 2005, is a laudable accomplishment. This significant customer number was achieved when Mr. Ali Salim Al Daffa’ee chose to change his mobile service provider while keeping his own number through MNP (mobile number portability), joining Nawras earlier this month.

During the celebrations, Nawras CEO, Ross Cormack, took time to thank his team and reflect on the amazing job they have performed since the company was created. He said, “I know I speak for everyone at Nawras, when I express my sincere thanks to the people of Oman for supporting Nawras from the very beginning and for responding to the values and quality that Nawras stands for. We are thrilled that more than 500,000 customers have chosen to become a part of the Nawras success story and this number continues to increase as we move onto the next chapter. I would like to emphasise that the company is growing not only in terms of customers but in the important areas of customer-serving employees, sales outlets and international roaming partners. The expansion of all these areas contributes to add even greater value to the superior experience that our customers enjoy. In 2007, we look forward to continuing to pursue our goals, making Nawras the communications provider and employer of choice in Oman. We will be unwavering in our determination to constantly provide all Nawras customers with great value, pleasingly different service and excellent quality.”

Nawras entered the Omani telecommunications market in March 2005, with an innovative record-breaking implementation programme which introduced unprecedented levels of service, quality and value. The company has been setting records ever since.

Great Value
Affordable Prices
More and more customers are experiencing the great value that Nawras offers, choosing to use the simple ‘MNP’ (mobile number portability) service to change their mobile service provider whilst conveniently retaining their personal mobile number. In fact, more than eight out of ten customers choosing to port their number are moving to Nawras with the main reason cited being the great value from Nawras, particularly as Nawras offers the lowest prices for both international and national calls. Whether using Nawras Ajel (postpaid) or Nawras Mousbak (prepaid), customers enjoy transparent, easy to understand price plans and only pay for what they use.

Nawras Internet
The wireless Nawras Internet is Oman’s fastest and most affordable mobile Internet connection. It can be used for checking emails, sending and receiving SMS, downloading files, managing phonebook contacts, accessing corporate intranet or simply browsing the Internet from a desktop computer or laptop.

Nawras Internet offers two highly-convenient and easy to use products which are bundled with a Nawras Ajel SIM-card. Nawras Internet USB Modem helps connect a laptop or desktop to the Internet through a simple USB interface.

The triple band Nawras Internet EDGE/GPRS PC Card from Sony Ericsson gives seamless wireless coverage on all five continents. By simply connecting the data card to a laptop, customers can access email, corporate intranet, the Internet - wherever they may be.

Nawras Internet gives seamless wireless Internet access and can be used anywhere in the Sultanate where Nawras has network coverage, or throughout the GCC region and other countries where Nawras offers Data Roaming service. Crucially, there is no waiting period to get connected to the Internet; an instant Nawras Internet connection can be purchased from any Nawras Store. An attractive price plan makes Nawras Internet Oman’s most affordable mobile Internet service with great value-for-money.

Nawras Mobile Email
From April 2006, Nawras Ajel customers have been able to use their mobile phone or PDA to enjoy Nawras Mobile Email (based on the popular Windows platform) to access emails, calendar and contact details while on the move. In addition, they can also send and receive Picture Messages or access the Nawras mobile portal, Nawras Zone, to read news or download content. Nawras Mobile Email can be used all across the Nawras mobile network as well as within all the countries where Nawras offers Data Roaming.

Nawras Rewards
Nawras is also the only mobile operator in the Sultanate to reward customers for their support. Through the Nawras Rewards programme, customers can benefit from discounts, which can even be in excess of their total monthly mobile spend! Customers simply send a text message to immediately activate concessions or receive gifts from more than 40 Nawras Rewards partners, located all over Oman. Nawras Rewards are a tangible sign of the company’s appreciation extended to all Nawras customers, where benefits can be received at more than 120 Nawras Rewards partner locations, ranging from restaurants to electronics to retail shops.

Pleasingly Different Service
Nawras Stores and Kiosks
Nawras Stores and Kiosks can now be found in 16 different locations in Oman, with the latest Nawras Kiosk having opened recently at the new Lulu Hypermarket, Al Burj complex, Al Seeb. The most populated locations are chosen for Nawras Stores to ensure that as many customers as possible stand to benefit from these venues which sell Nawras Ajel (postpaid) or Nawras Mousbak (prepaid) welcome packs, recharge cards and replacement SIM-cards. Customers may also buy prepaid credit through E-Recharge, pay a bill or try out the latest handsets and the wireless Nawras Internet connection. All Nawras Stores and Kiosks are manned by friendly professionals who will always happily explain what makes the Nawras customer experience so special, as well as demonstrate products and services, giving a practical example of the pleasingly different approach Nawras has built its reputation on.

Distribution Network
An extensive network of distributors covers the Sultanate with a total of 600 locations for Nawras prepaid products. In addition, Nawras Mousbak customers can easily and conveniently purchase a new recharge card at more than 10,000 locations all across the Sultanate. Recently, Nawras signed an agreement with Oman Post; meaning that it is now possible to purchase Nawras Mousbak SIM-cards and recharge cards at all 94 countrywide Oman Post branches.

Business Partnerships
Nawras has recently entered into a partnership with OPAL, reaching out to 200 companies. After a hotly contested offer, Nawras was chosen for its high quality network, range of value added services and increasing number of countries for International Roaming. The exclusive offer provides OPAL member companies, their employees and immediate family with a fantastic opportunity to reduce their spending on mobile phone services.

Customer Service
The customer focused contact centre at Nawras gives customers undivided attention and Customer Champions work to a standard of excellence in all they do. Their pleasingly different style is both friendly and professional, treating internal and external customers with the same respect. Customer Champions have familiarisation programmes in all sections so they are equipped to answer questions on all business sectors. Nawras is proud to have achieved 99% Omanisation of its Customer Service Centre.

Nawras Website
In less than 18 months, Nawras gained two prestigious awards for its informative and creative bi-lingual website. The most recent accolade was the Golden Trophy at the Pan Arab Awards 2006, where the Nawras website was placed ahead of a number of high-quality, respected regional websites. Relaunched in October 2006, the website’s new look was designed to give both existing and future customers, a more exciting experience, allowing everyone the opportunity to find information easily through an enjoyable visitor experience.

MyNawras
Nawras Mousbak (prepaid) and Nawras Ajel (postpaid) customers can use the Nawras website to access MyNawras, thereby gaining online access to their mobile accounts. With just a single click, customers can enter a secure environment to view their profile, check their account and call history details, as well as receive the proper configuration settings for their mobile handset. For security purposes, all the information on MyNawras is protected by a unique user name and password. This free service also displays ‘call history’, where Nawras customers can locate detailed information about the time, date, destination, number and cost of each call, SMS or MMS, made from their account over the previous 30 days. In ‘bill information’ Nawras Ajel customers can find detailed billing information including their bills from the previous six months.

Bill Payment
Nawras was first to help customers keep track of their mobile spending. Nawras Ajel customers can choose to receive a monthly itemised bill free of charge while Nawras Mousbak customers can check their expenditure on-line at MyNawras. Furthermore, Nawras Ajel customers can check their bill and outstanding amount by sending an SMS with the text ‘bill’ to 90506, while Nawras Mousbak customers can check their balance free of charge by calling the number *102#. In addition, Nawras has made it easy to pay bills. They can be settled at over 300 convenient locations ranging from American Express, Bank Muscat and Oman Arab Bank branches ATM payment and Internet banking.

Excellent Quality
Top-notch Network
Industry leader Ericsson benchmarked the Nawras network with 110 Ericsson equipped mobile networks worldwide and the Nawras state-of-the-art network ranked amongst the top 10% in the majority of key performance indicators (KPI’s) measured. Even more impressive, Nawras was placed at number one in three of the KPI’s, including the record for the least number of dropped calls. The network is pushed to capacity levels during holiday periods such as Eid Al Fitr and yet has proved beyond any doubt, that even with extremely high traffic intensity, there is no variance in the high quality network performance experienced by Nawras customers at quieter times. A rapid expansion of the network through a large number of additional base stations has shored up this high level of top quality, even further.

At launch, the Nawras network covered about 62% of the population. Due to a rapid expansion of the Nawras network, as well as a National Roaming agreement with Oman Mobile in which Nawras customers can use Oman Mobile’s network at Nawras prices where necessary, today Nawras covers more than 95% of the population. More recently Nawras extended coverage even further, putting Nawras in the position of providing the widest coverage in the Sultanate. Surprisingly for some, there is even very good coverage off-shore from Qantab to Buriami in the five kilometre range and a good level of coverage in a 10 kilometre range.

In Oman, Nawras was the first and is still the only operator to offer EDGE mobile technology, delivering high-speed data to mobile devices three times faster than an ordinary GSM/GPRS network.

International Roaming
Nawras offers its Nawras Ajel (postpaid) customers the possibility to use the Nawras service in more than 100 countries worldwide. Furthermore, Nawras was the first operator to introduce International Roaming for prepaid customers. Callback Roaming, allows Nawras Mousbak customers to make calls through callback in more than 200 international roaming partner networks. Prepaid customers can also receive SMS and voice calls, as well as send SMS, while roaming in the same networks. Covering more than 98% of Omani business and leisure travel destinations, this is an impressive expansion from the initial number of just five partners less than two years ago! This number will continue to increase, expanding the roaming options for Nawras customers.

Nawras was also first to introduce full Prepaid Roaming, allowing Nawras Mousbak (prepaid) customers to make and receive calls, as well as send and receive SMS, just like Nawras Ajel customers. Nawras has, among others, established Prepaid Roaming with all GCC countries, and additional countries will be added during 2007.

Nawras is the only operator in Oman to offer Data Roaming. Customers can download files or browse the Internet even while roaming abroad in any one of the GCC countries, plus a number of other countries in the Middle East and Europe. Data Roaming is a service of particular interest to the business sector, a perfect tool to use for keeping in touch when out of the office, using Nawras Mobile Email and Nawras Internet.

Third Generation (3G) Mobile Services
Nawras is the only Omani mobile operator to set up and carry out successful Third Generation (3G) testing and has been trialling the technology throughout 2006. Video Telephony and ultra high speed Internet connections are only two of the services being tested. Everyone is welcome to visit one of the Nawras Stores at Al Athaiba, Al Araimi, Nizwa, Salalah or Sohar, where the 3G service is show-cased and available for testing, to gain firsthand experience of the sophisticated communication options which are just around the corner.

Corporate Social Responsibility
Nawras takes Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) seriously and has played a significant role in Omani society with a commitment to enhance the standard of living of those most vulnerable and needy, in a sustainable way. Whilst Nawras has made donations to various charities throughout the year, without a doubt the most well-known activity is the ‘Nawras Goodwill Journey’ which stemmed from an employee initiative to do something special during the Holy Month of Ramadan. The first Goodwill Journey in 2005 visited a number of charities in the nine main regions all over the Sultanate, and helped to improve life for those less privileged in our society. Simultaneously, the Goodwill Journey elevated the overall level of CSR within companies in Oman, by developing a partnership with the Ministry of Social Development, raising awareness of a variety of charities in the Sultanate and spending time with those attending the centres.

The success, support and extremely positive feedback the company received following the initial journey in 2005, led to the Nawras Goodwill Journey taking place again in 2006. The second Goodwill Journey was recently completed after having visited a number of charities across Oman and after covering a total travelling distance of more than 5000 kilometres in 10 days. In addition to donations of a minibus, electrical, electronic and sporting items, toys were given to children, learning tools to those needing them and even the foundations of a warehouse built for a charity in Bahla.

Omanisation
Nawras launched with a workforce of 250 dedicated professionals, of whom, 235 had never worked in a mobile company before. Today, the company employs over 470 people who are among the finest mobile professionals anywhere. Nawras proudly exceeds the figure of 80% Omanisation and places great emphasis on the growth of all employees, particularly in terms of graduate development and succession planning.

Ross Cormack, Nawras CEO, concluded his speech by saying, “Nawras has changed the telecommunications landscape in Oman and in doing so, supported the Sultanate’s targets for Omanisation and the Government’s initiative to develop and utilise technology in order to contribute to the growth of e-business in the Sultanate. Let us continue along the tracks of our initial success, and bring the people of Oman closer by delivering world-class telecommunications products and services.”

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