US embassy cable - 05MUSCAT1564

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, Economic Affairs 
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 
----------------------- 
 
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 
----------------------------------- 
 
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