Minister of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship Ahmad Hanandeh said that the three telecommunications companies operating in Jordan are obliged, as per the term of an agreement they signed, to introduce the 5G service in Jordan within 18 months, according to Jo24.
Hanandeh added that the companies are currently preparing to modernize their networks, in compliance with the conditions stipulated in the agreement, noting that if they do not do it within the specified date, the agreement will be cancelled.
According to Hanandeh, companies are currently selecting suppliers to modernize networks and introducing the 5G service to the Kingdom.
The agreement grants signatories licenses to access 5G frequencies, so each licensee is obliged to launch 5G services commercially within a period not exceeding 18 months from the date it obtained the license.
Each licensee has the obligation to provide 5G services, make them available to at least 50 percent of the population within a period not exceeding four years from the licensing date, and increase the coverage rate by 5 percent each year, until no less than 75 percent of the population is covered.
The government, represented by the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC), will receive 10 percent of the revenues from the 5G services and applications provided by the licensed companies.
The incentive packages granted to companies include exemption from sales tax and customs duties on the infrastructure components, devices and equipment for the 5G service networks, showing no partiality to any licensee, and granting applicants for a license a one-time discount of 50 percent on the proceeds from acquiring an additional frequency license. Any such future license will be approved only within the frequency bands the companies are currently licensed for.
The package also includes extending valid licenses, with Cabinet approval, for an additional 10 years, only for one time, provided there is compliance with the obligations stipulated in the agreement.
TRC will then evaluate whether the licensees have performed in accordance with the bases and performance indicators set forth in the agreement for the purpose of extending their licenses for five more years, and for one time only, in addition to ensuring that the government’s annual revenues from telecommunications services will increase constantly in 2022, 2023 and 2024, or the renewal will not be granted.
Revenues from the activities and services of 2G, 3G and 4G will be modified in accordance with a previous Cabinet decision to become 6 percent instead of 10 percent.
Meanwhile, revenues from the provision of 5G services and/or any services associated with, complementary to, or derived from the service, will stand at 10 percent.