Omantel Taps China's GalaxySpace to Test Satellite Coverage

Omantel has agreed to test satellite-based connectivity with Chinese low-earth-orbit (LEO) operator GalaxySpace, a move that could eventually put Oman's deserts, mountains and shipping lanes within reach of broadband that fibre and cell towers cannot economically cover.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• Omantel and China's GalaxySpace signed a framework agreement, announced on 24-25 August 2026, to jointly explore LEO satellite and direct-to-device (D2D) connectivity in Oman, as reported by Muscat Daily.
• The two companies will run proof-of-concept trials and technical evaluations before deciding on any commercial rollout, according to Developing Telecoms.
• Target use cases include remote-area broadband, maritime and logistics connectivity, industrial IoT, and service continuity in areas where laying fibre or building towers is not viable.
• GalaxySpace has already signed similar cooperation agreements with Thailand's True Corp and Nigeria's national space agency, and operates more than 40 LEO satellites plus a "Mini-Spider" test constellation, per Developing Telecoms.
• No commercial launch date or investment figure has been disclosed; the deal is currently limited to testing and technical evaluation, as TechAfrica News confirmed.

🛰️ What Was Actually Signed

Omantel and GalaxySpace have entered a framework agreement to jointly assess how LEO broadband and direct-to-cell technologies could work in Oman, according to Muscat Daily's report on 24 August 2026. It is not a purchase order or a launch date. Instead, both companies will define proof-of-concept (PoC) activities and technical evaluations, with results feeding into decisions about future services, commercial models and any broader partnership, as detailed by TechAfrica News.

Omantel CEO Aladdin Baitfadhil framed the collaboration as an exploratory step rather than a finished product. "Satellite capabilities are becoming an increasingly important complement to terrestrial networks in enabling the next phase of digital transformation," he said, according to Developing Telecoms.

📡 Why LEO and Direct-to-Device Matter for Oman

Oman's geography is the problem this deal is designed to address. Large stretches of the Empty Quarter, the mountains of Musandam and Dhofar, and hundreds of kilometres of coastline sit well beyond the reach of fibre-to-the-home networks, even as Oman Broadband pushes to connect a million residential units nationwide. Building towers and trenching fibre in these areas is expensive relative to the number of users served.

LEO satellites orbit far closer to Earth than traditional geostationary satellites, cutting latency enough to support real-time applications. Direct-to-device (D2D) technology goes a step further, letting ordinary smartphones connect to a satellite without special terminals or dishes, a capability GalaxySpace GM Peter Huang Heping said the partnership will help assess for building "local satellite capabilities in Oman," as reported by Developing Telecoms.

The named use cases published so far include resilient broadband for underserved regions, service continuity during outages, enterprise and industrial applications, maritime and logistics operations, and IoT-enabled solutions, according to TechAfrica News. Maritime connectivity in particular dovetails with Oman's port and logistics ambitions; the Sultanate has committed billions of dollars to logistics corridors that rely on reliable tracking and communication at sea, a build-out detailed in OmanVision2040's review of the Sultanate's $4.2 billion logistics pipeline.

🏢 Who Is GalaxySpace

GalaxySpace is a commercial Chinese LEO satellite manufacturer and operator that says it has delivered more than 40 satellites and runs a production facility capable of building 150 satellites a year, according to Developing Telecoms. The company operates a "Mini-Spider" test constellation for validating broadband and D2D performance, and it has signed comparable cooperation agreements with Thailand's True Corp and Nigeria's national space agency in the past 18 months, the same report notes. Omantel is GalaxySpace's first announced partner in the Gulf.

For Omantel, the move is the latest step in a broader technology pivot the company has been signalling all year, following the ICT-led revenue jump the company reported for the first half of 2026. It also comes months after national data showed international internet bandwidth climbing sharply, a trend covered in AI in Oman's look at Oman's latest telecom numbers, underscoring how much capacity terrestrial and undersea links already carry, and why satellite is being framed as a complement rather than a replacement.

🌍 What Happens Next

Nothing here is commercial yet. Both companies still have to define the scope of proof-of-concept trials, run technical evaluations, and decide whether performance and cost justify a broader rollout, per TechAfrica News. No financial terms, satellite counts dedicated to Oman, or target dates for commercial service have been disclosed. Any eventual satellite service would also need regulatory sign-off from Oman's Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), which already licenses Starlink for direct satellite broadband in the Sultanate and has separately been building out its own telecom oversight tools, as covered in AI in Oman's report on the TRA's new Sabr data platform.

Why this matters for Oman

Even as a pilot, this deal signals that Oman's incumbent operator sees satellite, not just fibre and towers, as part of how it closes the connectivity gap in remote and maritime areas central to Vision 2040's logistics and diversification goals. If the proof-of-concept work succeeds, it could give Oman a second serious satellite option alongside Starlink, backed by an operator with domestic infrastructure and regulatory relationships already in place, potentially speeding up coverage for shipping, mining, tourism sites and border communities that fibre economics have long left behind.