AMMAN -- The government will not grant cellular phone licences to companies offering a new Internet service in the Kingdom, according to the head of the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC).
The government will be holding a bid this Sunday for companies selling WiMAX Internet technology to compete for sole access to the Jordanian market, Ahmad Hiasat, chairman of the TRC told The Jordan Times.
But the winning bidder, he said, would "not be given a mobile service licence."
Fourteen telecommunications companies from around the world have been invited to bid for the contract, said Hiasat. The winner will receive unfettered access to the country until new competitors are brought in after three subsequent bids held every six months.
WiMAX, or Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, represents the next generation in wireless Internet technology. But unlike its predecessor, Wifi, WiMAX technology beams Internet connection across distances that span tens and possibly even hundreds of miles from large cellular-esque towers, offering browsers an exponentially larger range of wireless access than before.
Instead of queuing in crowded coffee shops for wireless access, browsers will soon be able to use their laptops anywhere they please, without having to worry about searching for WiFi pockets.
WiMAX also offers the providers of this new technology the potential to compete in the cellular phone market, according to Hamad Afifi, general manager of Al Montashira Communications and Information Technology.
"Essentially, it offers customers nomadicity as well as mobility, which are not available under the traditional WiFi systems," he explained, saying that the technology affords consumers consistent and long-range connections that enable mobile phone calls to be made over the web.
Online cell phone calls "would effectively drive costs way down and make mobile phone calls relatively expensive," he said, adding that the market could be fundamentally altered if mobile services were offered by WiMAX providers.
Jordan hosts the region's most competitive cellular phone market, with four providers for a population of size of roughly 5.5 million. In comparison, Saudi Arabia, with 27 million inhabitants, has two providers, while Egypt, the largest Arab nation with over 70 million citizens, hosts only two as well.
By Hugh Naylor
© Jordan Times 2006
