Oman's TRA issues guidelines on internal telecom network in buildings

Muscat: Guidelines on installation of internal telecommunications networks in buildings have been issued by the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA).
The guidelines are about the installation criteria which represent a technical reference to construction engineers, consultants and landlords of residential and commercial buildings.
The guidelines aimed to ensure presence of a fast internal communications network for all facilities of the building and the possibility of connection of e-services in the future such as the security system in the building and the smart home technology.
The guidelines also include the necessity for presence of one communication channel or more between the boundary wall of the land plot and the built up area of the house or establishment in order to facilitate supplying the building with communication cables, mainly the fibre optic cables.
With the presence of such a communications channel, the consumer and the communications company will not need to remove the floor of the yard of the house or carry out excavation works for supplying the building with telecommunications cables. Each building should have a basic structure to support its telecommunications services, provided that such basic structure should be prepared for more than a service provider.
As per the complaints, the TRA receives from customers it has been noticed that some complaints have focused on the weak fixed telecommunications network and the low speed of the fixed internet in the houses.
In several cases the weak internal network of the house is ascribed to the use of bad quality copper cables.