SAMENA Council Moderated Spectrum Management Regulatory Roundtable with Government Institutions at the 3rd Annual MENA Spectrum Management Conference

UAE, January 29, 2017

The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), in United Arab Emirates hosted the 3rd Annual MENA Spectrum Management Conference held on 24 - 25 January in Dubai. SAMENA Telecommunications Council moderated a regulatory roundtable on spectrum during the conference, which is a part of the Global Spectrum Series – the world’s largest collection of regional spectrum management events.

The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) organized a regulatory roundtable to bring together key regulators from within the Arab region to provide an overview of the decision making processes and spectrum allocation plans for the future, including methods used for allocating spectrum, pricing methodologies, and overall governance of the spectrum. SAMENA Telecommunications Council, the tri-regional, non-profit telecommunications industry association moderated this important roundtable on spectrum.  In the presence of an audience of 200-plus industry professionals and senior executives, the MENA Spectrum Management conference outlined major points from various angles for the preparation WRC-19.

SAMENA Council's member operators stressed that certain frequency bands are highly important to industry-wide efforts for 5G development. Therefore, in view of WRC-15 and WRC-19, facilitating harmonized expansion efforts for 5G should be the priority for governments. SAMENA Council’s Moderation of this important regulatory activity during the MENA Spectrum Management Conference has helped telecom operators to re-enforce the multi-stakeholder imperative of open communication and private-public sector engagement on policy matters. Key questions asked to the government representatives of the UAE, Qatar, and Egypt by SAMENA Council ensured clarity on regulatory plans.

Mustafa Aykut, head of regulatory and policy activities at SAMENA Council, as the moderator of the Roundtable, commented, "Challenges associated with spectrum management and planning are of extreme importance to telecom operators, and to all public and private-sector ICT players, to be able to maximize the overall benefit that could be derived from the required spectrum, allocated at the required time. This helps in achieving a balance between regulatory rules and the market's dynamics is of urgency for all of us. Upcoming developments in 5G will stimulate new investment and encourage stakeholders to work together in the new data-driven economy. The sooner we engage in working together on high-priority areas such as spectrum, the more time we will have to concentrate on harnessing the power of 5G for the common end-user and for meeting the Sustainable Development Goals.”

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About SAMENA Telecommunications Council 
SAMENA Telecommunications Council is South Asia - Middle East - North Africa (SAMENA) region’s premier industry council of telecom operators and service providers, and represents network investments valuing at more than US$300 billion. SAMENA Council voices network operators’ issues and needs to regulators, policymakers, and international institutions. The largest regional telecom groups, including Saudi Telecom, Etisalat, Batelco, Ooredoo, Viva Kuwait, Orange Jordan, Turk Telekom, Zain, Omantel, among other leading operators and technology companies that are a part of the Council’s membership. SAMENA Council is a sector development partner, and believes in bringing all stakeholders closer together to help create a sustainable business environment for the industry, and to accelerate digital development in regional economies.

As an international non-profit organization, a private-sector representative platform, SAMENA Council is contributing to the understanding of cross-stakeholder priorities within the Public and the Private sectors. The Council has created a unique regional position as the regulatory reach and operator advocacy organization, with institution-level engagements with leading private and public-sector organizations.

SAMENA Council was founded in 2006. In February 2016, Saudi Telecom Company, represented by Dr. Khaled Biyari, became the chairman of the Board of Directors of SAMENA Council.

© Press Release 2017