TRA measures to ensure better connectivity

Licensed telecom operators may review the prices of their packages and introduce incentive offers

The Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRA) Oman has issued different measures as part of its endeavour to safeguard connectivity as the Sultanate is gripped by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 12-point plan provides details about how the Sultanate’s telecom regulator is working with operators and service providers.

“In line with the efforts taken by the Sultanate to prevent the spread of coronavirus, TRA Oman has taken a number of measures to ensure the continuity of the telecom services and avoid network congestion due to increased demand”, the telecom regulator said in a statement.

While the measures are expected to mitigate some of the operational challenges, they also extend to pricing with TRA urging providers to review prices and introduce incentive offers to services.

“Licensed telecom operators may review the prices of their packages and introduce incentive offers to enable nationals and residents to achieve the maximum possible benefits from the telecommunications services during this emergency case”, the statement said.

Employee protection is a major point asking telecom companies “to find mechanisms and means to ensure the continuity of service and avoid termination of service to any services or small businesses in case of inability to pay due to COVID-19 disruption and communicate alternatives and available payment mechanisms”.

Other points in the measures taken by the regulator include coordinating with the licensees to ensure the business continuity for the provision of telecommunications services and maintain its quality during the current circumstances and apply succession planning if required.

It calls for providing free distance learning facility in cooperation with the Ministry of Education to all educational institutions with websites ending with (edu.om) in order to spare parents and students from any extra financial burdens.

The measures also aim at ensuring an easy access to networks from multiple points through several access points from different areas.

It allows the licensees to provide telecommunications services by activating the wireless broadband service through WFBB-LTE-FDD using the 4G frequencies that were temporarily licensed for the mobile telecommunications services.

Other points in the measures include instructions to the licensees to take all the preventative measures within the environment of business companies to curb the spread of the Coronavirus and protect their employees against infection.

As part of the measures, it has been allowed to use VOIP applications such as Skype for Business, Google Meet, Zoom and WEBEX and encourages the licensees to operate the National Roaming Facility whenever necessary.

It offers “an opportunity for the licensees to use additional frequency bands without obtaining radio licence during this period if necessary”. It will allow them to use the planned frequencies required for “delivering services or connect the base stations”.

Further, TRA will “assign licensed companies with additional spectrum, especially in the C-band, to improve the quality of service and mitigate the pressure on the telecommunication networks if they wish”.

The 12-point plan provides details about how the Sultanate’s telecom regulator is working with operators and service providers