ictQatar quickly changing the face of Qatar's telco sector

Last month, ictQatar set the ball rolling when it sought the views of telecommunications operators interested in applying for fixed and mobile licences regarding the upcoming selection process. The council received heavy feedback during the consultation period and ictQatar Secretary General Dr Hessa Al Jaber said, 'We were delighted with the response from companies from around the world - numerous operators expressed interest in business opportunities here.'

Mobile pre-qualification

Now that the regulatory authority has had time to digest the comments it garnered just a few weeks ago, it has now launched the pre-qualification phase for those interested in snaring Qatar's second mobile licence. During this stage, interested applicants will be required to satisfy specific criteria and procedures to qualify for selection. Those who do pre-qualify will subsequently progress to the formal application phase.

The pre-qualification period will close on May 27 and ictQatar is aiming to choose the winning bid for the licence at some point during the summer. Within the next few months, ictQatar will also set up the application procedure for a fixed licence and it is hoped that this will have been awarded by the end of the year.

The council is very keen to make sure the whole process is totally transparent and fair. To this end, ictQatar has also this week launched a public consultation process on the proposed regulations for opening up Qatar's telecommunications sector and all relevant documents have been made available on the council's website.

An attractive proposition

The strong level of initial interest from telco operators in applying for a licence in Qatar is hardly surprising. The country's economy is positively booming with the government predicting growth of around 15 per cent per annum over the next three years and with the GDP spiralling ever upwards and forecast to reach $100bn by 2013. These statistics alone would make for a seriously attractive market place but allied to this is the fact that hundreds of thousands of expatriate workers are likely to head for the tiny Gulf state in the next decade - and virtually all of them will want a mobile phone.

In fact, the country already has a mobile penetration rate of around 100 per cent, although it trails the UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait in the Gulf region alone, but ictQatar's Executive Director William Fagan told the Reuters news agency such seeming saturation would not act as a dissuader to any interested parties and emphasised that, for new operators, there is 'a lot of room to grow.'

Figures released by the Dubai based Madar Research have also shown that the broader picture in the Middle East and North Africa is equally encouraging to telco outfits looking to move into the region or expand their reach, with the telecommunications industry currently worth around $50bn and, including the broadband Internet sector, likely to hit $70bn by 2015.

A separate report by the Arab Advisors Group, focusing solely on Qatar, predicted a compound annual growth rate of 21.5 per cent in ADSL take-up over the next four years and this too will be of great interest to prospective operators hoping to muscle in on Qatar Telecom's currently unchallenged position regarding services.

Customers first for ictQatar

But for Qatar's regulatory authority the bottom line is to create a situation, through the issuing of new licences, wherein which telecommunications operators can compete fairly for market share and, as a result, provide direct benefits for customers. Dr Al Jaber summed up the council's position when she said, 'The experience of nations throughout the world has shown that market forces lower rates, improve the quality of service, drive innovation and spur investment.'