TRA for complete openess by 2015

Breaking the monopoly in the telecom sector will need time, said Mohamed Nasser Al Ghanim, Director-General of the Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRA), speaking at a Federal National Council session yesterday.

Al Ghanim said that the TRA is supervising negotiations between the country's two operators – Etisalat and du – aimed at reducing service fees. He said by the middle of the year, a new mechanism will be in place to enable a cut in fees.

The single-operator monopoly in certain areas will also be broken. Du will be able to offer services in areas monopolised by Etisalat and vice-versa, said Al Ghanim. "This would lead to a reduction of charges and offering of new services, especially those related to broadband internet."

The official said breaking telecom monopoly involved not only the basic infrastructure but also marine cables, land stations, international agreements, database management, internet service, land cabling and the land for setting up relay towers.

"The telecom sector in any country passes through three phases – starting from monopoly, [moving] to competition and finally to complete liberation and openness," said Al Ghanim. "The UAE is still in the competition phase, and as per the UAE negotiations with the World Trade Organisation, complete liberation and openness of this sector will be reached in the country in 2015.

"We have succeeded in ensuring a mobile phone permeability rate of 204 per cent with a total of 10.7 million subscribers. The growth rate is estimated at 85 per cent."