Arrests over illegal international calls

The suspects were found selling unlicensed international calling cards through mobile and computer software

Times News Service

MUSCAT: A number of expatriates have been arrested for providing illegal international calling services to customers, Oman’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) said on Sunday.

According to officials, the suspects were found selling unlicensed international calling cards through softwares installed in mobile phones and computers.

In a statement, TRA said, “As part of its role as a supervisory body over the provision of telecommunication services in Oman, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) conducted an inspection campaign on a number of businesses operating in the Sultanate to check their compliance with the Telecommunications Regulatory Act, and its associated regulations and decisions.

“A team of TRA officials with judicial powers identified a number of expatriate workers providing telecommunication services that are not licensed by the TRA. The breach to the law was identified as softwares installed in mobile phones and computers, and via selling unlicensed international calling cards. The provision of telecommunication services without a license is deemed illegal, and constitutes a breach of the Telecommunications Regulatory Act.”

Devices

The authority explained that inspection teams also recently found some of dealers selling telecom devices that were not type approved by the TRA.

“Accordingly, the necessary inspection and seizure reports were issued to these offenders and the inspection team notified the establishments to comply with the Telecommunications Regulatory Act, and the decisions implementing its provisions. The team also emphasised the importance of obtaining type approval for telecom devices from TRA before selling them,” it further said.

The TRA mandates the type approval of all telecom devices to ensure quality and performance of such devices in the local market, seeking at the same time to reduce the hassles experienced by the users and network operators when selling devices that are incompatible with networks operating in Oman. Type approval also helps contain electromagnetic interference within the reasonable levels and ensures that frequency spectrum is used in accordance with the National Frequency Plan approved by TRA.