The UAE has successfully registered more than 19,000 terrestrial radiocommunication stations at International Telecommunication Union (ITU), according to the Telecommunications and Digital Regulatory Authority (TDRA).
The ITU is the UN’s specialised agency for information and communication technologies (ICTs). According to the TDRA this achievement represents an international recognition of the frequencies allocated to the UAE and the ability to protect radiocommunication stations from harmful international interference, which greatly affects the quality of services provided to the public.
Eng. Tariq Al Awadhi, Executive Director of Spectrum Affairs, TDRA, said, “The spectrum is a natural resource, and the UAE is keen to use it adequately to ensure providing optimal communication and broadcasting services.”
In line with this, Al Awadhi highlighted that the TDRA has been developing plans and strategies to manage spectrum resource and accelerate the deployment of radiocommunication stations, in cooperation with service providers.
In addition, the organisation also held regular meetings and signed agreements with the competent authorities in sister and neighbouring countries to limit harmful interference that may occur on radiocommunication services.
He further noted that these efforts by TDRA reflect its key role in protecting terrestrial and space radiocommunication stations from harmful interference that may be caused by other countries.
Al Awadhi added, “TDRA is keen to cooperate and coordinate with the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf – (GCC), through the Technical Committee of the GCC Technical Office for Telecommunications and to participate in the meetings that discuss important technical matters, in the field of telecommunications and frequency spectrum in the GCC. The most important of which was studying the technical and organisational aspects of a number of modern and emerging technologies, such as the 5G, coordinating the use of mobile networks and radio channels in the border areas among the GCC, and limit harmful interference impacting some radiocommunication services, coordinating the use of frequency bands for the GCC rail network, and other subjects of interest for the member states.”
TDRA also pointed out that it is continuously upgrading the frequency spectrum management system with the aim to reach the latest version used in spectrum management at the regional and global levels and to provide the users in the UAE safe frequencies that are free from harmful interference.