The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), Nasser bin Khamis al Jashmi, has decision 15/2022 to regulate the interruption of telecommunication services.
Interruption of telecommunication services results in the inability of the beneficiaries to obtain voice or data services. This interruption may be pre-planned by the licensee, or it may occur without prior planning.
Planned outage:
The interruption of telecommunication services as a result of an activity related to the operation and maintenance of the network, which was previously planned by the licensee.
Unplanned outage:
Suddenly stopping telecommunication services without prior planning from the licensee.
Article (2)
The service interruption, whether planned or unplanned, is classified according to the following levels:
Level one: The cessation of telecommunications services, which leads to the unavailability of voice or data services for less than 1% one percent of the beneficiaries, or the loss of telecommunications traffic by less than (1%) one percent.
Level two: The discontinuation of telecommunication services, which leads to the unavailability of voice or data services to a percentage ranging between (1%) one percent and less than (5%) five percent of the beneficiaries, or the loss of telecommunication traffic by a percentage ranging between ( 1%) one percent and less than (5%) five percent.
Level three: The cessation of telecommunication services, which leads to the unavailability of voice or data services to a percentage ranging between (5%) five percent and less than 25 percent of the beneficiaries, or the loss of telecommunications traffic by a percentage ranging between (5%) five percent and less than 25 percent.
Level Four: Communications services cessation, which leads to the unavailability of voice or data services to a percentage ranging between 25 percent and less than 75 percent of the beneficiaries, or a loss of telecommunications traffic by a percentage ranging between 25 percent and less than 75 percent.
Level Five: The cessation of telecommunication services that lead to the unavailability of voice or data services to a percentage of 75 percent or more of the beneficiaries, or a loss of telecom traffic by (75%) seventy-five percent or more or isolating a governorate or a wide geographical area.
Licensee's Obligations
Article (3)
The licensee is obligated to:
A- Examine the performance of important elements in the telecommunication network at least once a year, such as switches, main transmission links, and basic databases, in order to ensure the readiness of measures for these elements, alternate links, redirection of telecom traffic, and measure the effectiveness of emergency plans, provided that The authority shall be notified in advance of the scope of these examinations, and a detailed report shall be provided to it upon completion.
Executing and developing procedures and systems for managing the telecommunications network, and applying the technical and organizational measures approved by the Authority.
Article (4)
In the event of a planned service interruption in the main network elements or those that affect a wide geographical area as a result of the process of upgrading the network software or upgrading a large number of network elements, the licensee shall abide by the following:
Implementation of the planned outage during the period of reduced traffic on the network.