Report on Industrial visit to Omantel on 18 February 2019

A batch of 27 Bachelor of Telecommunication Engineering students, along with Mr R Devasenathipathy, visited Omantel Ibri on 18 February 2019 between 9am and 1pm.

Mr Yasin, the operation head, addressed the students and introduced them to Omantel’s landline and broadband connections. The objective of this visit was to provide and show the real-time operations and maintenance of Omantel’s telecommunication systems to the students of  the Telecommunications course.

It was a four-hour visit to the Ibri earth station and telecommunication exchange. Mr Younis presented the operations, maintenance activities and plans of Omantel, Ibri branch earth station. Mr Younis also introduced the officials of Omantel to the students for interaction. Students actively participated in this interaction and felt very satisfied. After the presentation, the students were taken to the Omantel exchange located on the Ibri Souq road.

Mr Yasin and Mr Younis explained the operations of the old analogue telephone system compared to today’s modern telecommunication system including, the wireless communication system, live on Omantel.

The students visited the entire exchange to observe real-time operations and automatic switching and high-speed transmission devices and their operation. The students collected some samples of various types of cables and wires including fibre optic cable used in the transmission highway. The visit concluded at 1pm with the commitment of future support by Omantel in connection with student training and technical support.

Technical Specifications:

This visit set out the technical specifications of the Omantel network. The ITU-T recommendations applied were given as a demonstration. They explained the PNT, Broadband, 2G, 3G and 4G networks. The connection of Omantel’s E1 interfaces with the Requesting Party E1 interfaces using proper over voltage and lightning protection measures were observed. Common earthing for both Omantel and the Requesting Part equipment with E1 interfaces were described. 

With regard to internet communication, they gave a clear demonstration about accessing the Internet ADSL, where the broadband connection is routed from the customer connectivity to Omantel aggregation router and further via the Omantel IP backbone and reaches the AAA server at the requesting party’s premises. After authentication, the customer is assigned the required resources for full internet access. The requesting party bills the customer for the service and for the traffic usage. They also described the Omantel data centres connected to Omantel operated cable landing stations and earth station and as such provides access to all Omantel-offered international connectivity services through submarine cables and satellites respectively.

The students were satisfied with the alignment of their course and industrial visit. They were very happy in learning the new things in alignment with the course. The course teachers showed interest in collaborating this course with the industrial visit. The outcome of the visit was to give a clear idea on the latest trends in telecommunication technologies and operations of telecommunication exchange.

In our quest for the provision of quality education and to contribute to the national development endeavours of the Sultanate, this industrial visit finds a way for our students to acquire job market-relevant knowledge and industrial experiences for their future both inside and outside the college.

Students were exposed to the real-time environment of telecommunication. Omantel staff members extended their excellent services during their busy schedule by engaging our students as part of their growth.