Oman's Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) issued Decision 9905/2026 on August 25, 2026, attaching the Regulation Governing the Portability of Telecommunications Numbers. The decision was published in Official Gazette issue 1663 on August 30, 2026 and takes effect on August 31, 2026, the day after publication. It repeals Decision 145/2008 and any provision that conflicts with the attached regulation. The signed Arabic PDF of Decision 9905/2026 is the operative text, issued under the Telecommunications Regulatory Law (Royal Decree 30/2002) with Ministry of Finance and TRA Board approval.
Every licensee providing public telecommunications services on fixed or mobile numbers, including Omantel, Ooredoo Oman, Vodafone Oman and resellers, must now run ports through TRA's central number-portability system, verify identity and explicit consent on the receiving side, refrain from donor-side win-back during the transfer, and pay RO 1.5 to TRA plus RO 1.5 to the donor for each completed number.
Who has to comply, and from when?
Article 2 covers every legal person licensed to provide public telecommunications services in Oman using fixed or mobile numbers, from August 31, 2026. A fixed-line port and a mobile port travel under the same instrument. The subscriber applies to the receiving licensee, not the donor, under the TRA-approved technical and operational guide (Article 3). A subscriber who has already ported a number may port that same number again on the same guide. Any internal playbook still citing Decision 145/2008 is out of date as of August 31, 2026.
What must operators connect, and who pays the RO 1.5 fees?
Each licensee must connect its technical systems to TRA's central number-portability database within 90 days of commencing public telecommunications services, and it bears every cost of building, operating and connecting those systems. Article 6 requires uninterrupted service, support for network features, direct call routing to the recipient without transiting the donor or a third network, no harm to quality or reliability, and compliance with TRA competition principles. Existing operators already offering public telecom services are under the connection duty as of the in-force date; the 90-day clock in Article 4 runs from commencement of public telecommunications services, not from gazette publication.
Article 16 puts the cash on the recipient: RO 1.5 to TRA and RO 1.5 to the donor for every number whose transfer completes. No waiver for resellers or first ports is published.
| Obligation | Who | When or how much |
|---|---|---|
| Connect systems to TRA's central NP database | Every public-telecom licensee | Within 90 days of commencing public telecom services |
| Direct call routing to the recipient, not via the donor | Licensees routing the number | From each completed port |
| Identity check and explicit consent | Receiving licensee | Before completing the port |
| Secure electronic settlement of outstanding dues | Donor licensee | Immediate, on a TRA-approved channel |
| Per-number port fee | Receiving licensee | RO 1.5 to TRA and RO 1.5 to the donor |
| Win-back or any act that obstructs the port | Donor, and any licensee | Prohibited during the transfer |
| Decision 145/2008 | TRA | Repealed on August 31, 2026 |
What is banned during a transfer, and what happens to unpaid bills?
Article 12 bars the donor from influencing the subscriber's decision, from contacting the subscriber to learn about the recipient's services, and from making offers during the transfer. No licensee may obstruct completion of the service. The donor must still provide a TRA-approved secure electronic channel so the subscriber can settle outstanding amounts immediately (Article 7). Completing the port does not extinguish those debts: Article 13 lets the donor claim remaining dues after the transfer, and if subsequent amounts owed to the donor go unpaid the recipient must suspend the number under the Article 3 guide. Data from the central system may be used only to provide the portability service and may not be shared without TRA approval (Articles 10 and 11).
If a port was completed in breach of the regulation, the recipient must cancel it, return the number to the donor immediately and notify the subscriber (Article 14). Both licensees must document the request and are liable for any error. Completion time limits live in the TRA operational guide (Article 8), not in the Gazette text, so licensing teams need the current approved version on the desk from August 31, 2026.
What can TRA do if a licensee obstructs a port?
Article 17 points TRA to Article 51 bis of the Telecommunications Regulatory Law (Royal Decree 30/2002). Once a breach is established, the Authority may take the administrative measures that article already provides. Decision 9905/2026 contains no separate fine table: the sanction path is the parent telecom statute.
Obsidian's continuous, per-jurisdiction monitoring surfaces a Gazette instrument like this the moment it is published, so licensing teams see the in-force date before an obstructed port becomes an Article 51 bis file.
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Confirm each Omani licence you hold is a public-telecom licence using fixed or mobile numbers, replace any 145/2008 playbook with Decision 9905/2026, and verify that your systems already sit on TRA's central NP database. Brief retail and retention teams that donor-side contact, offers and win-back during a live port are prohibited, and that the recipient owns identity checks, explicit consent, the RO 1.5 plus RO 1.5 cash and any later number suspension for unpaid donor dues. Pull the current TRA operational guide, because the completion clock and the suspension procedure sit there. Obsidian tracks Omani TRA decisions as they hit the Official Gazette.
