The delegation of TRA consisted of Shadi bin Shamsan Al Wasawasi, Manager of Finance, Engineer Abdulrahman bin Hisham Al Suwaidi, Manager of Licensing and Spectrum, and Saeed Ahmed Mashkoor, Telecommunications Market Analyst. The meeting discussed a number of key issues, the most important of which is cloud computing in Arab countries and how to stimulate its use within the Arab region, especially for small and medium-sized companies. The meeting members also discussed consumer protection issues in the Arab countries and ways of solving cross-border problems for consumers and encouragement of sharing fixed focal points between the Arab regulators to facilitate effective communication on the AREGNET’s website.
The TRA delivered a presentation during the meeting on the Arab retail price benchmarking study which is conducted by the TRA on behalf of the AREGNET, and in collaboration with an independent consulting company, who specializes in telecommunications services price benchmarking. This study compares the cost of telecommunications services provided to different segments of consumers in terms of usage (such as low, medium and high usage of services). This study also covers all retail prices in Arab countries compared to the prices in the countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
The meeting also adopted a draft law on information and communication technology in the Arab region as a consultation paper for Arab countries, and discussed the importance of protecting online children on the Arab and global levels as this matter has severe damages and risks to children, and the role of each of the individuals, governments, and Internet service providers in this regard. It is worth mentioning that this meeting aims to discuss the main themes of the strategic plan of the AREGENT to implement projects that would develop the telecommunications and information technology sector in Arab countries through the strengthening of the relations between the countries and encouragement of Arab investment and the adoption of necessary measures and policies in this regard through the principle of the spirit of cooperation and coordination between the Arab countries in the field of telecommunications and information technology.