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MUSCAT: Sept 7: The Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRA) is planning to bring in more reforms in the Sultanate's postal sector to keep pace with developments in the communication system. TRA held a joint consultation meeting with key stakeholders to review the general policy and postal regulatory legislations drafted by international consulting firms. "This effort is to help bring in reforms and develop postal services in harmony with the developments witnessed worldwide and to enhance the role of postal services in the economic and social development of the Sultan-ate," TRA said in a statement.
While the Ministry of Transport and Communication is responsible for proposing the general policy framework for the sector and follow up its implementation, TRA is responsible for implementing the policies as well as regulating and supervising the postal services providers in accordance with the Postal Services Regulatory Law, which was issued by the Royal Decree No 71/2012. Present at the meeting were representatives from government entities, postal services providers and some beneficiaries of the postal services.
The meeting focused on discussing the principles and outcome of studies prepared by consultants under the supervision of officials from the Ministry of Transport and Communications and TRA. According to the statement, the key principles and general policy include "furthering the role of posts in the socio-economic development through gradual liberalisation of the postal market and reducing bureaucracy in the supervision and regulation in the promotion of local and foreign investment".
It also said: "The joint consultation aims at encouraging operators to improve postal services by using telecommunication and technology on a wider scale to be capable of providing hybrid e-commerce services in the next five years in line with the plans and trends of the government." The Oman Post Company was established as a national operator through a Royal Decree. Ever since its establishment, the company has made huge strides in its services with a new version of services to enhance communications systems in the country. The company serves all the governorates and wilayats through 93 post offices.
"The company has been looking to increase the number of services and enhance the performance of its human resources. The company also seeks to find a strategic partnership in the private sector, so as to achieve common goals and serve the nation," the company said in a recent posting. At the same time, the postal law seeks to "liberalise the market and prepare the postal sector for competition, encourage the private sector, locally and internationally, to invest in the postal sector and overcome obstacles that may prevent it". As part of its development programmes, Oman Post has introduced a new service in association with the Ministry of Housing. The service has been offered since early June 2016.
It is part of the company's efforts to offer many other services to citizens, including provision of residential, agricultural and industrial land requests in addition to the change of ownership service. E-Post is another service launched to address the challenges faced by the postal sector in the age of Internet. It is a hybrid mail system, which is an integration of traditional print and electronic communications systems.
© Oman Daily Observer 2016
