Providing telecommunication services to 150 remote villages A se res O a tel nawras s pport
MUSCAT — The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has announced a joint initiative to provide telecommunications services to more than 150 villages located in remote and rural areas in the Sultanate.
The implementation of this national project will start during the third quarter of this year and expected to be completed by the end of 2013.
The joint initiative will be implemented in co-operation with the telecom operators Omantel and Nawras following requests from citizens to provide telecommunications services to villages of rural and remote areas that are inhabited by a small number of people and currently lacking such services.
“The TRA has paid great attention to the requests of citizens from different governorates and regions of the Sultanate, and accordingly eld surveys were conducted for these areas to determine their exact needs of telecommunications services and to estimate the population and assess the nature of the terrain and the possibility of connecting these areas to the nearest telecommunications network,” the authority said in a press statement.
Following consultations with the Governors of the various governorates, the TRA reviewed the results of eld surveys against the plans and obligations of the licensed companies that are stipulated in the issued licenses so as to provide telecommunications services to those villages at the earliest opportunity.
As the provision of services in remote areas are not commercially feasible for the telecom operators, given the dif cult terrain and small population sizes, the TRA took up the issue with Omantel and Nawras. Both licensed companies co-operated in this national initiative by agreeing to build a total of 120 mobile sites in various rural areas of the Sultanate, divided equally between Omantel and Nawras.
Commenting on the project, Dr Hamed al Rawahi, Chief Executive of TRA, said: “One of the main objectives of the TRA according to Article (7) of the Telecommunications Regulatory Act is to ensure the provision of telecommunications services to all parts of the Sultanate at reasonable prices, and based on this principle, the TRA is working to achieve this goal through the implementation of policies that increase competition and support investment in the telecommunications sector for the development of the sector and work to provide access to telecommunications services in order to achieve the objectives of the future vision of the national economy. Such policies will not be limited to infrastructure development and increasing telephone density, but will result in increased investment and employment opportunities and improvement in the quality of services, in addition to providing e-serv- ices for citizens in their areas, with a qualitative shift in the elds of education, culture and business at the time that the country is aiming at reducing the digital divide to adopt ICT in various aspects of life.”
Dr Al Rawahi added: “Telecommunication companies usually target areas with high population density that have economic returns in order to develop their networks and provide various services. However, TRA appreciates the response of telecom operators to this social initiative which aims to provide telecommuni- cations services to citizens and residents in the rural areas, so as to keep them in touch with their families and relatives in other regions of the country.
Though this initiative will provide telecommunications services in many additional areas however there would be areas that will remain without services; this is an issue that the TRA is currently working on through implementing eld surveys in the remaining areas, upon specifying such areas the TRA will set the plans to accomplish the coverage of the remaining villages, in coordination with other government authorities.”
He said the initiative is different from the pilot project of the Universal Service Obligation (USO) announced by the TRA earlier. The former initiative will not require direct nancial support from the government as it the result of an understanding between the TRA and Omantel and Nawras.
Commenting on the initiative, Dr Amer bin Awadh al Rawas, CEO of Omantel, said the project will contribute to providing telecommunications services to thousands of citizens and residents by connecting villages and areas covered by the initiative.
Dr Al Rawas added: “In addition to providing the required telecommunications services in the areas covered by the initiative, it will increase the penetration rates of various telecom services in the Sultanate, resulting in supporting the government's efforts to shift to a digital society as after the completion of linking these villages and areas the Internet service will be available more broadly than ever.”
Ross
Cormack,
Nawras CEO, commented: “Nawras is dedicated to enabling customers to get closer wherever they may live or work. Our vision is to enrich the lives of people in Oman through better communication and this naturally includes those living in less populated areas too. The TRA has acted as a catalyst to drive this important project forward and we are pleased to support this initiative and delighted that many more people can now bene t from Nawras services. It is important for everyone in the Sultanate to be able to take advantage of the tremendous opportunities of this digital age."
Omar al Qatabi, Projects Manager, Universal Service Unit and the supervisor of the implementation of this initiative, said: “This national initiative meets the citizens’ basic needs of telecommunications services in rural areas of the Sultanate, where TRA regularly receives citizens' requests for telecommunications services, which come either directly from the citizens themselves or through various of cial and social channels.”
The initiative falls outside the scope of direct government nancial subsidies stipulated in the Universal Service Policy of the Sultanate. Governments in various countries with dif cult terrain can provide direct government support for telecommunications companies to provide services to the citizens residing in these areas
The project is expected start in the third quarter of this year and will be completed by 2013-end.