Nawras to launch Commercial Service on 16 March 2005
Nine Nawras Stores at Launch
Caring, easy-to-use, high quality mobile service

Nawras, Oman’s new mobile operator is now finalising all the preparation for commercial launch in order to meet the requirements of their future customers. In June 2004 Nawras won the bid for the second licence amongst a strongly contested competition with 27 other consortia. On 19 February 2005, His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said issued Royal Degree No. 17/2005 for Nawras (The Omani-Qatari Telecommunications Company SAOC) as the second mobile licensee in the Sultanate of Oman.

At the press conference that was held yesterday at the Grand Hyatt Hotel Muscat, Nawras Chairman Sheikh Saif bin Hashil Al-Maskery and Chief Executive Officer Ross Cormack, announced the eagerly awaited news that Nawras will officially launch its commercial services on 16 March 2005.

Speaking on this remarkable occasion Sheikh Al-Maskery announced that “It is an honour, on behalf of Nawras, to announce that Nawras will officially launch its commercial service to the Sultanate on Wednesday 16 March.” He added “I would like to take this opportunity to thank shareholders, partner vendors and employees who have made it possible for the company to make this official announcement today. He expressed specially thanks to the Ministry of Transport and Telecommunication and the Telecommunication Regulatory Authorities for their support and commitment to helping Nawras succeed in becoming the new mobile operator in the Sultanate. He added Nawras has been working very hard since winning the bid to create a robust company that will service the people of Oman with easy-to-use services at great value.

For months now the people of Oman have been eagerly awaiting the announcement of Nawras’s launch and all employees have been working extremely hard to ensure that Nawras delivers high quality mobile telecommunications services. Nawras is committed to bring to the people of Oman a combination of the latest technology and skilled, competent and friendly service that will take mobile communications in Oman to a whole new level.

At the press conference Mr. Cormack announced that “we in Nawras are extremely pleased about this announcement, since it comes at a time when all at the Nawras team have given more than 100% to ensure we deliver the best customer experience at launch.”

An important element of the superior customer experience is to provide caring support wherever Nawras customers are. This will be ensured through the company’s extensive sales network. He went on to announce that “Nawras’s nine own stores will be located in different parts of the Sultanate and ready to receive customer on the 16 March. The stores will provide mobile customers a pleasingly different environment for shopping or simply receiving more information about the Nawras services. The caring support of the Nawras stores will be strengthened by a Customer Service Centre providing competent and friendly service never experienced before in Oman’s telecommunication industry.

When asked about Nawras network coverage at launch Mr. Cormack responded that “in the initial phase of our launch, mobile service will be provided in the most populated areas of the Sultanate including Muscat, Batinah Region, Sur, Nizwa and Salalah. He went on to add “for a new mobile operator to cover such a vast area in such a short time is a remarkable achievement. What normally takes years for other mobile operators to accomplish with regards to network coverage and quality of service Nawras has done in a record time of less than a year. This is a big step towards reaching our mission of becoming the communications provider of choice in Oman. After launch more regions will be covered in order to continue enriching the lives of the people of Oman through better communications.

The second component of our mission is to be the employer of choice in Oman, and with that in mind nearly two hundred customer facing employees both in Customer Service and Sales have now completed their rigorous training and graduated with a high level of commitment to providing the Nawras customers with an excellent customer experience.

At the end of the press conference Haitham bin Abdullah Al-Kharusi, Head of Corporate Affairs, added that a Nawras VIP event has been organized for 15 March under the patronage of His Highness Sayyid Asaad bin Tariq Al-Said who will officially inaugurate the launch of the company. Senior members of the Royal Family, Ministers, Under-secretaries, Members of Majlis Al Dawla and Shura as well as senior dignitaries from the public and private sector have been invited to participate in the Nawras inauguration event.

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