Middle East Business
Oman's incumbent operator begins a technical and commercial study of low earth orbit connectivity for remote sites and maritime work
By Staff Writer | 26 August 2026
Omantel and GalaxySpace will run proof of concept work and technical evaluations before any decision on deployment. Nothing has been committed and any rollout would still need regulatory approval.
Oman's incumbent telecommunications operator has begun work with the Chinese satellite manufacturer GalaxySpace on whether low earth orbit capacity has a place in the country's networks. The two companies will look at low earth orbit broadband and at direct to cell services, the technology that allows an ordinary handset to reach a satellite where no mast covers the ground.
The stage announced is deliberately short of a commitment. The companies say the collaboration will focus initially on technical and commercial assessments rather than the immediate rollout of services, and that they expect to examine proof of concept projects and possible use cases across the consumer, enterprise and government markets. Omantel has said the results of the technical evaluations would help determine the feasibility, performance and commercial viability of any future service, and that any subsequent deployment or investment would remain subject to those findings, to regulatory requirements and to internal approvals.
Our collaboration with GalaxySpace reflects Omantel's commitment to exploring emerging technologies that can strengthen the resilience, reach and future readiness of Oman's connectivity ecosystem.
Eng Aladdin Baitfadhil, Chief Executive Officer of Omantel
The use cases named are working ones
The applications set out are broadband in remote or difficult to reach areas, service continuity, maritime and logistics operations, industrial applications and internet of things services. The companies will also assess how satellite networks could sit alongside Omantel's existing fixed and mobile infrastructure and what they would do for network resilience.
That list is a reasonable description of a construction and resources project in the interior. A site in Al Wusta or on a long linear job between Haima and Thamrait is precisely the place where fibre is expensive to extend and a mast is expensive to justify, and it is also the place where a delay notice, a daily record or a site instruction has to leave the site the day it is made. Coverage on such jobs has usually been solved by hired terminals on a monthly rate. What is being examined here is whether that becomes a network service instead.
Connectivity at a remote site is a records question before it is a comfort question. Where a contract requires notice within a fixed period, and the site cannot send it, the argument that follows is about the adequacy of the communications the parties assumed rather than about the event itself.
What the second party brings, and what is not yet fixed
GalaxySpace develops satellite internet systems and manufactures low earth orbit satellites. The company states that it has delivered more than 40 satellites and operates a plant with annual production capacity of up to 150. It has built a test constellation it calls Mini Spider and has been running trials of satellite internet and direct to cell communications.
Peter Huang Heping, General Manager of International Business Development at GalaxySpace, has said the partnership would examine how low earth orbit broadband and direct to cell technology could contribute to developing satellite capability in Oman and might support wider regional opportunities. The collaboration also provides for knowledge transfer, technical capability development and joint learning between the two companies.
No investment figure has been given, no timetable has been published for the assessment, and no coverage target has been stated. The initiative is aligned by the parties with Oman Vision 2040 priorities on digital transformation and international cooperation, which is the standard framing and not a commitment either.
For anyone planning work away from the populated coast, the useful thing is the sequence rather than the announcement. Evaluations first, regulatory clearance second, service third, and each of those is a place where the thing can stop. A site programme written on the assumption that this arrives is a programme written on an assumption.