Muscat – Oman has moved up four places in the global Network Readiness Index (NRI) for 2024, securing 50th place, according to Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA).

NRI is published by Portulans Institute and Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford.

In a statement, TRA said the index assesses how countries utilise communications and information technology to enhance their global competitiveness based on four main pillars – technology, people, impact and governance.

TRA highlighted Oman’s notable achievements in several key sub-indicators. The sultanate ranked first globally in ‘population covered by at least a 3G mobile network’, ninth in ‘government promotion of investment in emerging technologies’, tenth in ‘use of virtual social networks’, and 11th in ‘gender gap in Internet use’.

These rankings demonstrate Oman’s progress in improving its digital infrastructure and fostering inclusivity in Internet access.

In the GCC, UAE is ranked highest at 28th, followed by Saudi Arabia at 35th, Qatar at 38th, Bahrain at 51st and Kuwait at 67th.

For the third consecutive year, the United States leads the index. Singapore has once again claimed the second spot, with Finland keeping hold of third place. Movers in the top ten include Sweden, up to fourth, South Korea rising to fifth, and the United Kingdom moving up to eighth place. The Netherlands (6th), Switzerland (7th), Germany (9th) and Denmark (10th) round off the leader board.

The index is one of the leading global indices on application and impact of ICT in economies across the world. In this latest edition, ‘Building a Digital Tomorrow: Public-Private Investments and Global Collaboration for Digital Readiness’, the NRI report maps the network readiness landscape of 133 economies.