Oman’s IoT Surge: 118% Growth and a Nation-Wide Digital Overhaul

• Chinmay
• July 23, 2025
• Internet of Things, News
• 5G and fibre in Oman, digital economy MENA, digital government services, IoT adoption Middle East, Middle East smart cities, Oman broadband statistics, Oman IoT growth, Oman Vision 2040, public sector digitisation, Tahawul program
• 0 Comments

Oman is rapidly becoming a Gulf leader in digital transformation — and the numbers back it up. According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the country has witnessed a 118.7% year-on-year increase in IoT connections, reaching 1.55 million active connections as of May 2024. Alongside this, mobile subscriptions have soared to 8.13 million, in a country of around 4.5 million people.

National Strategy Meets Digital Execution

This growth aligns closely with Oman Vision 2040, a long-term national development roadmap aiming to diversify the economy and enhance public service delivery through digital means. Core to the strategy is the expansion of:

• Fibre optic infrastructure
• Fixed and mobile 5G networks
• Online public service accessibility

By investing in these foundations, Oman is enabling private and public sectors to move quickly into next-gen connected services.

The Digital Economy Push

In 2022, Oman launched a $441.5 million digital transformation programme, which has been instrumental in upgrading core government services. This falls under the Digital Economy Program, which has three key milestones:

• Raise digital economy’s GDP share from 3% (2025) → 5% (2030) → 10% (2040)
• Digitize 80% of public services by 2025
• Support scalable infrastructure to enable smart city rollouts, e-governance, and IoT innovation

By the Numbers: Mobile, Broadband & IoT

Here’s a breakdown of Oman’s telecom growth as of May 2024:

• IoT connections: 1.55 million (+118.7%)
• Postpaid mobile: 1.23 million (+5.6%)
• Prepaid mobile: 5.33 million (+3.1%)
• Mobile broadband: 5.41 million users
• Fixed broadband: 588,000 users (+2.6%)

Government Services Go Digital

The Tahawul program — Oman’s flagship digital governance initiative — has already achieved 73% of its performance targets, up from 53% a year prior. Key accomplishments include:

• 27 million+ digital government transactions in 2024
• National Digital Integration Platform processing 1.4 billion data exchanges
• Unified e-government portal launched
• 4 major agencies awarded “digital excellence” status

Why This Matters: A Model for Others?

Oman’s integrated approach — blending public investment, telecom modernization, and clear KPIs — offers a compelling model for countries aiming to scale digital services and build sustainable IoT ecosystems. From smart utilities to industrial monitoring, the private sector is now moving in lockstep with government efforts.

What’s Next?

With fibre optics and 5G as the foundation, Oman is likely to see surging growth in:

• Industrial IoT and smart manufacturing
• Smart logistics and asset tracking
• Connected public infrastructure
• AI-powered public services and analytics

If executed well, Oman could emerge as a regional testbed for large-scale IoT deployments.