TELECOMMUNICATIONS

closed

The proposed project consists mainly of the works included in the first three years of the first phase (1980-1985) of OMANTEL's 1979-1990 development program and includes the installation of: (a) 15,700 new direct exchange lines (DELs) and the replacement of 3,900 lines of obsolescent equipment; (b) ducts and main cables to provide for about 16,000 new DELs and capacity for future growth; (c) telephones for about 14,000 new subscribers and about 5,500 new private automatic branch exchange (PABX) extensions; (d) about 350 public call offices to be located in both urban and rural areas; (e) about 6,000 lines of switching capacity in new private exchanges; (f) international and national switching and transmission systems; (g) switching and miscellaneous equipment to increase the automatic telex network to about 1,800 subscribers; (h) construction of buildings; provision of motor vehicles; training and testing equipment, and furniture and fittings; and (i) consultants' services and technical assistance to strengthen the management, training and engineering capabilities of OMANTEL. For this purpose two experts (one with technical and one with financial background) would be retained by OMANTEL for about 2-1/2 years, at an average man/month cost of $8,500.