04 April 2012
Muscat: The telecommunication regulator should minimise their intervention in fixing tariff by operators, and they should concentrate more on licencing framework and technological issues, as the market has already reached a higher level of maturity, said a top-level official of a leading telecommunication operator.
"We have reached a maturity level that allows us to go on an 'auto pilot' mode, where the regulatory intervention is needed only when something goes wrong," opined Dr Amer Al Rawas, Chief Executive Officer of Oman Telecommunications Company (Omantel).
There needs to be less regulation on the market dynamics (after seven years of competition in Oman) and the day-to-day operations of telecommunication firms should be allowed to go on an 'auto pilot' mode. When market moves to a different maturity level, price regulation does not exist.
'Let the public decide'
"Let the public decide whether this is a good price or not. Innovative products can come out without having to be approved by the regulator as long as they follow the general guidelines," the Omantel chief explained, while talking to the media on the sidelines of a two-day conference organised by Samena Telecommunications Council here yesterday.
Referring to sharing of telecom infrastructure, the CEO of Omantel said, there are certain areas in Oman, which are fully wired and therefore, the regulator is calling on some level of infrastructure sharing at a passive level.
"The regulator is going to come up with a model that we hope will be conducive for not only continuous investment, but also cost saving," he said.
"This is particularly important at a time when the government is investing in fibre to home, through Haya Water. That kind of model will allow us to share also with the infrastructure players who are not necessarily licenced operators," he further added.
Beyond Connectivity 2012
The Samena conference titled "Beyond Connectivity 2012", opened amidst a growing sense of feeling among the telecommunication operators to seek new revenue streams at a time voice revenue is coming down.
The telecom players also seek an overhaul of the current regulatory policies, providing leading telecommunications experts and decision makers in the region with an opportunity to discuss the need for harmonised national ICT policies to promote sustainable growth of the ICT industry in the region.
Opening the conference, Bocar A. Ba, President of Samena Telecommunications Council said, "The ICT industry in the Samena region has witnessed tremendous growth and development accompanied by a major shift towards digitisation which entails and accentuates the need for organised policies both at the national and regional levels."
"Harmonised ICT policies will not only promote collaboration between operators, telecommunication companies and other stakeholders, but also support the proliferation of digital ecosystems, promote widespread broadband deployment and adoption, and build new revenue streams for operators," he further added yesterday.
Challenges ahead
Delivering the key note address, Mohammed Al Ismaily - Advisor, Technical Affairs Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRA) Oman said, "The emergence of next generation technologies are posing a number of challenges and driving the need for increased regulator participation in promoting and developing harmonised ICT policies."
"Increasing digital divide and explosion of bandwidth-hungry OTT applications, among other developments have made it essential to formulate national broadband strategies to promote its availability and accessibility on account of its potential to contribute to industry and economic growth and employment generation," he added.
"Having recognised the vital role of broadband in priming economy and the growing adoption of mobile broadband by consumers, TRA Oman along with the Ministry of Transport and Communications has developed a spectrum migration plan; funds have been committed and a time frame has been agreed upon for spectrum to be made available to the consumers."
Nawras chief executive officer Ross Cormack also addressed the summit.
Muscat: The telecommunication regulator should minimise their intervention in fixing tariff by operators, and they should concentrate more on licencing framework and technological issues, as the market has already reached a higher level of maturity, said a top-level official of a leading telecommunication operator.
"We have reached a maturity level that allows us to go on an 'auto pilot' mode, where the regulatory intervention is needed only when something goes wrong," opined Dr Amer Al Rawas, Chief Executive Officer of Oman Telecommunications Company (Omantel).
There needs to be less regulation on the market dynamics (after seven years of competition in Oman) and the day-to-day operations of telecommunication firms should be allowed to go on an 'auto pilot' mode. When market moves to a different maturity level, price regulation does not exist.
'Let the public decide'
"Let the public decide whether this is a good price or not. Innovative products can come out without having to be approved by the regulator as long as they follow the general guidelines," the Omantel chief explained, while talking to the media on the sidelines of a two-day conference organised by Samena Telecommunications Council here yesterday.
Referring to sharing of telecom infrastructure, the CEO of Omantel said, there are certain areas in Oman, which are fully wired and therefore, the regulator is calling on some level of infrastructure sharing at a passive level.
"The regulator is going to come up with a model that we hope will be conducive for not only continuous investment, but also cost saving," he said.
"This is particularly important at a time when the government is investing in fibre to home, through Haya Water. That kind of model will allow us to share also with the infrastructure players who are not necessarily licenced operators," he further added.
Beyond Connectivity 2012
The Samena conference titled "Beyond Connectivity 2012", opened amidst a growing sense of feeling among the telecommunication operators to seek new revenue streams at a time voice revenue is coming down.
The telecom players also seek an overhaul of the current regulatory policies, providing leading telecommunications experts and decision makers in the region with an opportunity to discuss the need for harmonised national ICT policies to promote sustainable growth of the ICT industry in the region.
Opening the conference, Bocar A. Ba, President of Samena Telecommunications Council said, "The ICT industry in the Samena region has witnessed tremendous growth and development accompanied by a major shift towards digitisation which entails and accentuates the need for organised policies both at the national and regional levels."
"Harmonised ICT policies will not only promote collaboration between operators, telecommunication companies and other stakeholders, but also support the proliferation of digital ecosystems, promote widespread broadband deployment and adoption, and build new revenue streams for operators," he further added yesterday.
Challenges ahead
Delivering the key note address, Mohammed Al Ismaily - Advisor, Technical Affairs Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRA) Oman said, "The emergence of next generation technologies are posing a number of challenges and driving the need for increased regulator participation in promoting and developing harmonised ICT policies."
"Increasing digital divide and explosion of bandwidth-hungry OTT applications, among other developments have made it essential to formulate national broadband strategies to promote its availability and accessibility on account of its potential to contribute to industry and economic growth and employment generation," he added.
"Having recognised the vital role of broadband in priming economy and the growing adoption of mobile broadband by consumers, TRA Oman along with the Ministry of Transport and Communications has developed a spectrum migration plan; funds have been committed and a time frame has been agreed upon for spectrum to be made available to the consumers."
Nawras chief executive officer Ross Cormack also addressed the summit.
© Times of Oman 2012
