Oman is moving from having attractive digital infrastructure fundamentals to deliberately developing data centres and cloud computing as an investment sector.
The Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology identifies data centres and cloud computing among the Sultanate’s technology investment opportunities and highlights potential Tier 3 and Tier 4 developments in locations including Dhofar and Sohar. The Ministry also points to Oman’s international connectivity, including 21 international submarine cables, as part of the country’s digital infrastructure proposition.
At the same time, Oman introduced an updated Cloud First Policy in July 2026, requiring government entities within its scope to prioritise cloud solutions and use authorised cloud service providers while meeting cybersecurity, data protection and risk management requirements.
Demand indicators are also positive. Revenue in the Oman’s data centre market is forecasted to reach US$262.50 million in 2026, increasing to US$393.51 million by 2031, a forecast CAGR of 8.43%. Network infrastructure represents the largest forecast segment.
The numbers are market-revenue forecasts rather than announced investment commitments. The more important question for prospective investors is therefore not whether digital demand exists, but where and how an Oman data centre can turn that demand into sustainable returns.
Oman’s connectivity advantage needs to translate into a customer proposition
Oman’s geographic position and international cable connectivity can support several potential data centre models.
These may include facilities designed for:
However, connectivity alone does not establish commercial viability.
Investors should identify which workloads the facility is intended to attract, why customers would place those workloads in Oman and whether the expected demand justifies the planned capacity.
A regional connectivity facility, for example, may require different carrier relationships, redundancy and pricing assumptions from a facility primarily serving Omani enterprise customers.
Site selection is a financial and operational decision
Data centres are unusually sensitive to location because site economics affect both capital investment and long-term operating expenditure.
A site assessment should consider:
The lowest-cost site is not necessarily the most economical facility over its full operating life.
For this reason, site strategy should be incorporated into the project’s financial model from the beginning.
Investment incentives should be modelled, not assumed
Oman promotes a range of incentives for eligible technology investments, including 100% foreign ownership in permitted activities, capital-transfer flexibility and potential tax and customs benefits within qualifying free and special economic zones.
The availability and value of an incentive, however, depends on the investment structure, location and applicable conditions.
An investor should therefore assess:
Oman’s changing data environment increases the importance of governance
Oman’s digital regulatory environment continues to develop.
In September 2026, Royal Decree 68/2026 amended aspects of the Personal Data Protection Law, including provisions relating to scope, exemptions and automated processing.
For data centre operators and cloud providers, this reinforces the importance of identifying what data is being hosted and what responsibilities arise across customers, operators and technology providers.
Governance should address data classification, access, processing arrangements, subcontractors, incident management, backup architecture and any cross-border elements of the service.
Oman also maintains a register of approved hosting service providers and data centres, illustrating the increasingly structured environment within which cloud infrastructure operates.
The operating model matters as much as construction
A data centre can meet its construction budget and still underperform commercially if long-term operating assumptions are weak.
Before final investment approval, businesses should model:
For companies evaluating a new data centre investment in Oman
A robust investment assessment should bring together:
How BDO Oman can support you
A data centre investment brings together decisions that are often evaluated separately: location, infrastructure, financing, tax, technology, regulation and long-term operating costs.
We can help you bring these decisions into one investment framework before significant capital is committed.
Our Corporate Finance and Advisory specialists can support feasibility assessment, financial modelling, investment analysis and transaction due diligence, including testing how changes in utilisation, power costs, development timelines and operating expenditure could affect expected returns.
Our ICT Advisory team can assess technology architecture, information security, business continuity, governance and infrastructure dependencies, while our tax specialists can evaluate the implications of the proposed ownership, financing and operating structure, including relevant incentives, VAT, customs and cross-border arrangements.
Where data protection, hosting requirements or other regulatory considerations affect the proposed operating model, we can help identify these requirements early enough to incorporate them into the business case rather than address them after development decisions have already been made.
For investors considering Oman as a data centre location, our role is to help determine not only whether the market opportunity exists, but whether the proposed project can convert that opportunity into a commercially viable and resilient investment.
The Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology identifies data centres and cloud computing among the Sultanate’s technology investment opportunities and highlights potential Tier 3 and Tier 4 developments in locations including Dhofar and Sohar. The Ministry also points to Oman’s international connectivity, including 21 international submarine cables, as part of the country’s digital infrastructure proposition.
At the same time, Oman introduced an updated Cloud First Policy in July 2026, requiring government entities within its scope to prioritise cloud solutions and use authorised cloud service providers while meeting cybersecurity, data protection and risk management requirements.
Demand indicators are also positive. Revenue in the Oman’s data centre market is forecasted to reach US$262.50 million in 2026, increasing to US$393.51 million by 2031, a forecast CAGR of 8.43%. Network infrastructure represents the largest forecast segment.
The numbers are market-revenue forecasts rather than announced investment commitments. The more important question for prospective investors is therefore not whether digital demand exists, but where and how an Oman data centre can turn that demand into sustainable returns.
Oman’s connectivity advantage needs to translate into a customer proposition
Oman’s geographic position and international cable connectivity can support several potential data centre models.
These may include facilities designed for:
- domestic cloud workloads
- government and regulated-sector workloads
- regional connectivity
- disaster recovery
- international traffic routes
- hyperscale or wholesale capacity
- enterprise colocation.
However, connectivity alone does not establish commercial viability.
Investors should identify which workloads the facility is intended to attract, why customers would place those workloads in Oman and whether the expected demand justifies the planned capacity.
A regional connectivity facility, for example, may require different carrier relationships, redundancy and pricing assumptions from a facility primarily serving Omani enterprise customers.
Site selection is a financial and operational decision
Data centres are unusually sensitive to location because site economics affect both capital investment and long-term operating expenditure.
A site assessment should consider:
- available electrical capacity
- grid connection timetable
- power redundancy
- land and development costs
- fibre connectivity
- distance to major customers
- environmental conditions
- cooling requirements
- water requirements where relevant
- expansion potential
- access to qualified personnel
- logistics for replacement equipment.
The lowest-cost site is not necessarily the most economical facility over its full operating life.
For this reason, site strategy should be incorporated into the project’s financial model from the beginning.
Investment incentives should be modelled, not assumed
Oman promotes a range of incentives for eligible technology investments, including 100% foreign ownership in permitted activities, capital-transfer flexibility and potential tax and customs benefits within qualifying free and special economic zones.
The availability and value of an incentive, however, depends on the investment structure, location and applicable conditions.
An investor should therefore assess:
- which legal entity will own the asset
- where the entity and facility should be established
- whether a relevant incentive regime applies
- what expenditure qualifies
- whether conditions remain commercially workable over the project lifecycle.
Oman’s changing data environment increases the importance of governance
Oman’s digital regulatory environment continues to develop.
In September 2026, Royal Decree 68/2026 amended aspects of the Personal Data Protection Law, including provisions relating to scope, exemptions and automated processing.
For data centre operators and cloud providers, this reinforces the importance of identifying what data is being hosted and what responsibilities arise across customers, operators and technology providers.
Governance should address data classification, access, processing arrangements, subcontractors, incident management, backup architecture and any cross-border elements of the service.
Oman also maintains a register of approved hosting service providers and data centres, illustrating the increasingly structured environment within which cloud infrastructure operates.
The operating model matters as much as construction
A data centre can meet its construction budget and still underperform commercially if long-term operating assumptions are weak.
Before final investment approval, businesses should model:
- energy consumption at different utilisation levels
- cooling and maintenance expenditure
- staffing
- technology refresh
- spare parts and critical equipment
- network costs
- insurance
- service-level penalties
- cybersecurity
- compliance
- decommissioning and asset replacement.
For companies evaluating a new data centre investment in Oman
A robust investment assessment should bring together:
- Market strategy: target customers, workloads and utilisation assumptions.
- Location: electricity, connectivity, land, cooling and expansion.
- Investment incentives: eligibility, conditions and impact on project returns.
- Tax: corporate tax, VAT, customs, financing and cross-border arrangements.
- Technology: architecture, scalability, security and equipment lifecycle.
- Data governance: data classification, privacy and processing responsibilities.
- Resilience: redundancy, disaster recovery, cyber response and supplier dependencies.
- Sustainability: energy efficiency, cooling, renewable-energy options and equipment circularity.
How BDO Oman can support you
A data centre investment brings together decisions that are often evaluated separately: location, infrastructure, financing, tax, technology, regulation and long-term operating costs.
We can help you bring these decisions into one investment framework before significant capital is committed.
Our Corporate Finance and Advisory specialists can support feasibility assessment, financial modelling, investment analysis and transaction due diligence, including testing how changes in utilisation, power costs, development timelines and operating expenditure could affect expected returns.
Our ICT Advisory team can assess technology architecture, information security, business continuity, governance and infrastructure dependencies, while our tax specialists can evaluate the implications of the proposed ownership, financing and operating structure, including relevant incentives, VAT, customs and cross-border arrangements.
Where data protection, hosting requirements or other regulatory considerations affect the proposed operating model, we can help identify these requirements early enough to incorporate them into the business case rather than address them after development decisions have already been made.
For investors considering Oman as a data centre location, our role is to help determine not only whether the market opportunity exists, but whether the proposed project can convert that opportunity into a commercially viable and resilient investment.