ictQATAR Publishes Three-Year Regulatory Strategy

The Regulatory Authority of the Supreme Council of Information and Communication Technology (ictQATAR) published today its final Regulatory Strategy for the coming three years. The Regulatory Authority has taken into consideration the views of stakeholders following a public consultation conducted earlier this year for this Strategy.

The publishing of this Regulatory Strategy with a targeted set of actions is an important step in the continuous development of the regulatory regime for the telecommunications sector in Qatar. It is also important to share with all stakeholders the focus areas that the Regulatory Authority will pursue to develop the telecommunication market, enhance available services and protect consumers.

The proposed Regulatory Strategy focuses on the following five strategic priorities in the sector:

1. Enhance the competitive environment;
2. Improve the clarity and predictability of the regulatory framework;
3. Ensure the efficient management of scarce resources (frequencies and numbers);
4. Safeguard the interests of consumers; and
5. Support Qatar in the transition to a connected digital economy.

Across these focus areas, the Regulatory Authority has identified a number of actions that, taken as a whole, shall provide a clear and structured plan to achieve its strategic objectives.

Over the next three years the Regulatory Authority will work towards the following:

• Introducing new service providers in the telecommunications market, at either the infrastructure or service level;
• Introducing a wholesale interconnection and access framework (including a comprehensive Regulatory Accounting System);
• Improving the compliance and enforcement regimes to make the processes more effective and transparent, including plans to introduce powers for the Regulatory Authority to impose graduated sanctions;
• Streamlining the dispute resolution procedures of the Regulatory Authority and reviewing the procedures for appealing its decisions;
• Reviewing spectrum allocation and assignment policies and fees, including setting out future spectrum releases, introducing licence rules and regulations and ensuring monitoring of compliance;
• Issuing a consumer protection policy that aims to improve quality of service and the quality of information available to enable consumers to make more informed choices in the market;
• Developing a new regulatory framework for quality of service;
• Enacting a revised numbering plan and an associated numbering fees regime; and
• Developing required policies and regulatory frameworks to support Qatar’s transition to a connected digital economy.

The achievement of this ambitious plan within the proposed timeframe will require constructive engagement between all industry players and relevant stakeholders as well as coordination across relevant government agencies.

The Regulatory Strategy can be downloaded from this link.

A summary of the comments received during the public consultation along with the responses of the Regulatory Authority can be downloaded from this link.

A copy of all the comments received can be downloaded from this link.