MAKING WAVES IN OMAN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MUSCAT 001564

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR NEA/ARPI, NEA/PI, NEA/PPD, EB/CIP/BA, AND DRL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON ECPS EINT PHUM PGOV MU
SUBJECT: MAKING WAVES IN OMAN


1. (U) Summary: In a move that surprised many observers, the
Ministry of Information has granted television and radio
broadcasting licenses to two private Omani companies. While
this will effectively end the government's broadcasting
monopoly, the licensees anticipate having to work closely
with the Ministry once they begin operations in 2006. End
Summary.

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OPENING UP THE AIRWAVES
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2. (U) On October 10, the Ministry of Information announced
that it had awarded broadcasting licenses to two Omani
private sector entities. Oman Holdings International Company
(OHI) received permission to operate one television station
and two radio stations, while Sabco LLC will be permitted to
operate two radio stations, one in Muscat and one in Dhofar.
The announcement came on the heels of a positive
recommendation from the Private Radio and Television Stations
Establishment Committee, which was created by the Ministry to
address private sector inquiries regarding broadcasting
licenses.

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PRIVATE SECTOR CAUGHT OFF-GUARD
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3. (SBU) While private sector interest in broadcasting has
been long-standing, the October decision by the Ministry
caught many off-guard. Ammar Maqbool al-Saleh, Executive
Director of OHI, told Emboffs that his company was "shocked"
to get permission to operate radio and television stations.
While his company has been pursuing this permission with the
Ministry since 1994, it didn't expect a decision "so
suddenly."


4. (SBU) With little in-house expertise, OHI is assembling a
team of broadcasting consultants with hopes of having its
radio station on the air in 6 months, followed sometime later
by a television station. Television broadcasting will be
particularly challenging given its infrastructure costs, with
state-run Oman TV refusing to rent OHI its facilities, and
absolutely no market survey data. Saleh admitted he does not
even know how many homes in the Muscat area have antennas to
receive his broadcasts; most have only satellite dishes. He
has, however, initiated conversations with content providers
in the Arab media capitals of Cairo, Beirut and Dubai for
programs to air. Getting advertisers will be another
challenge because the number of companies currently
advertising on the state-owned television and radio stations
are few, and there is little TV broadcast advertising
experience among Omani marketing firms.

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OPPORTUNITIES ABOUND...
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5. (SBU) Other firms are still working with the Ministry to
gain approval for their license applications. According to
Saleh, 15 applications remain pending with the Ministry.
Saleh Zakwani, CEO of Apex Press and Publishing, is
optimistic that his company, one of those applicants, will be
able to enter the radio broadcasting business in the near
future. Zakwani believes that now is the right time for Oman
to move toward privatization of broadcasting services, and
that radio, given its relatively low set-up and operating
costs, is ripe for private sector participation. Apex, which
currently publishes a popular weekly and several monthly
magazines, hopes to operate both Arabic and English language
radio stations that will be based on a playlist format.

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...IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE MINISTRY
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6. (SBU) Both Saleh and Zakwani believe that the granting of
broadcasting licenses represents a positive step toward media
liberalization. Saleh noted that the decision by the
government to open the airwaves reflected its realization
that it was becoming increasingly difficult to "keep people
in the dark," given the popularity of satellite television
and the Internet. Zakwani also expressed his view that a
certain degree of press freedom already exists in Oman,
making it feasible for the private licenses to be issued.


7. (SBU) Nevertheless, Saleh commented that OHI would have to
apprise the Ministry of its operations and programming
content, and stated that the company has already met with
Ministry officials to discuss what would be permissible in
this regard. While the Ministry's response regarding content
was predictably vague, according to Saleh, both he and
Zakwani said the Ministry was firm in limiting broadcasts to
the Arabic and English languages. (Note: With 600,000 Indian
nationals in Oman, Hindi broadcasts could prove a lucrative
niche. End note.) Zakwani, who already works with Ministry
officials because of his company's print operations, noted
that maintaining good relations with the Ministry would be
important to his radio operations. Meanwhile, OHI Chairman
Maqbool al-Saleh, Ammar's father, is a close personal friend
of Information Ministry Under Secretary Shaykh Abdallah
al-Hosni. Both OHI and Apex said they intend to exercise
self-censorship to avoid Ministry meddling, and will exclude
politically controversial offerings from their programming
menus.

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COMMENT
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8. (SBU) Based on our meetings, it appears the private sector
has little idea right now how to implement their new rights,
and even less idea exactly how the government will regulate
them. For instance, while OHI knows it must apply to the
still-nascent Telecommunications Regulatory Agency (TRA) for
an assigned frequency on the FM band, they have no idea how
or when the TRA will make that determination. They also know
their broadcast license must be renewed in ten years, but not
what the renewal criteria might be. What is clear is that,
however vague the Ministry's boundaries, the new private
broadcasters will be careful not to cross them.
BALTIMORE