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Immediate focus on engaging with the service providers and stakeholders to develop initiatives to ensure that competition in the market is thriving
Doha - HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani has appointed Mr. Mohammed Ali Al-Mannai as President of the Communications Regulatory Authority (CRA) by Emiri Decree No. 25 of 2015.
As President, Al-Mannai will be responsible for leading all technical, financial and administrative affairs of the CRA, established last year to regulate the communications and postal sectors, as well as access to digital media.
Al-Mannai brings to the job nearly 18 years of wide-ranging experience in the telecommunications industry, including serving most recently as the Chief Executive Officer of the Qatar National Broadband Network (Qnbn). Under his leadership, Qnbn made a great deal of progress toward roll-out of its high-speed, fiber optic broadband infrastructure,and signed significant agreements with the telecom operators and major real estate developers.
Prior to becoming CEO of Qnbn, Al-Mannai served as Senior Director for the network rollout at Oordeoo (formerly Qtel), and was responsible for the design and implementation of both fixed and wireless networks. Since 2010, Al-Mannai has served on the board of the Al Jazeera Network and was appointed board member of Maldives operator before joining Qnbn. Al Mannai holds a Bachelor of Science in Physics and Electronics from the American University in Cairo, and has numerous professional management and leadership diplomas from institutions including IMD, INSEAD and the Carnegie Bosch Institute.
Thanking H.H the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani on the trust bestowed upon him, Al-Mannai said, "I am honored to be given this opportunity to lead the Regulatory Authority and to work with such a passionate group of people who are dedicated to ensuring a thriving communications sector."
"In my new role, my priorities will be to promote consistency, transparency, and flexibility across the regulatory framework and to introduce measures that encourage service providers to develop better services and innovative products for people and businesses in Qatar," he added.
Al-Mannai's immediate focus will be to engage with the service providers and stakeholders to develop initiatives to ensure that competition in the market is on a level playing field for the operators and to address identified bottlenecks at the wholesale level.
"CRA has in place several strong measures for consumer rights protection and we will continue to ensure that operators are acting in the best interest of consumers, with compliance and enforcement mechanisms and a dispute resolution process independent of the operators," All Mannai said. "CRA is establishing new quality of service criteria for service providers to meet and is conducting independent monitoring to ensure appropriate quality," he added.
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About the Communications Regulatory Authority
The Communications Regulatory Authority (CRA) is the Communications Regulator in the state of Qatar established by virtue of Emiri Decree (42) in 2014. CRA regulates the Telecommunications and Information Technology sector, postal services, access to digital media and spectrum. The CRA encourages and supports an open and competitive Information & Communications Technology (ICT) sector that provides advanced, innovative, and reliable communications services. Balancing the rights of consumers with the needs of service providers is at the heart of everything the CRA does.
For inquiries:
Anirudh Sharma, Public Relations & Communications Section Head
Telephone: +974 44994659
Mobile: +974 55636960
Email: asharma@cra.gov.qa
Jassim Yacob Al-Mass, Communications Specialist
Telephone: +974 44995306
Mobile: +974 66662300
Email: jalmass@cra.gov.qa
© Press Release 2015
