Muscat: The total fixed internet subscriptions in the Sultanate reached 510,151 by the end of August 2021 while the number of fixed internet subscriptions via internet protocol increased by 4.7 per cent, according to data released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).
Of this, total fixed telephone line subscriptions reached 577,450 by the end of August 2021, comprising a decline of 0.4 per cent compared to the same period of 2020. Further, prepaid and postpaid analogue fixed telephone lines fell by 4.9 per cent to 284,927 subscribers compared to the same period of 2020.
The number of fixed internet subscriptions via internet protocol stood at 235,494.
Moreover, ISDN channel subscriptions rose by 3.9 per cent to 48,987. Fixed wireless subscriptions reached 1,241 by the end of August 2021, comprising a drop of 15.5 per cent.
Public payphones stood at 6,801 by the end of August 2021.
The total number of mobile phone subscriptions decreased by 3.4 per cent by the end of August 2021 reaching 5,867,729. Of those, prepaid mobile phone subscriptions came first with 4,667,979 comprising a decrease of 10.4 per cent compared to the end of August 2020. The number of subscribers through service providers reached 3,679,924 while the subscriptions through resellers stood at 988,055.
Fixed broadband internet subscriptions that have more than 256 kilobytes speed went up by 4.4 per cent to 508,106 compared to the same period of 2020. However, the number of internet subscriptions of a speed lower than 256 kilobytes (including phone calls and some leased internet connections) reached 2,045 comprising an increase of 0.9 per cent compared to the same period of 2020.
The number of active broadband subscribers stood at 5,038,540 by the end of August 2021 comprising a rise of 7.5 per cent compared to August 2020.
The total international capacity of the internet went up by 2.7 per cent to hit 1,451,777 megabytes.
Moreover, the number of local leased circuits reached 4,882 whereas the number of Telex line subscriptions stood at 116 by the end of August 2021.
