Page 102 - SAMENA Trends - August 2019

REGULATORY & POLICY UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

the internet’s next billion users. Universal Acceptance (UA) is Finance said. Thanks to the government’s electronic payment
a universal requirement and prerequisite for attaining a truly and collection system, launched in May, government services
multilingual Internet, particularly for domain names and e-mail have become more accessible to citizens at their actual prices,
addresses in non-Latin characters. It is mandatory to facilitate whether online or through payroll, bank, prepaid or credit cards,
the usage of domain names and e-mail addresses in non-Latin the ministry added in a statement. The ministry has supplied
characters as one of the most important prerequisites of the all administrative bodies nationwide with E-collection systems;
multilingual Internet in order to eliminate the obstacles that hinder however, some of them have been found to be unused, the ministry
the enrichment of multilingual content, and achieve universal said. The ministry further underscored the need to use the new
acceptance. As such, the Universal Acceptance Steering Group systems and return any surplus equipment to the competent
(UASG) has considered the development of all aspects related to budget authority to avoid wasting public funds and exercise strict
Internet systems and applications, such as domain names and control over state investments. Prepaid cards are now available
e-mail addresses one of the most significant criteria for universal free of charge at the National Bank of Egypt (NBE), Banque Misr,
acceptance so that they could deal in a manner consistent with Bank du Caire (BdC), Agricultural Bank of Egypt (ABE) and the
both Latin and non-Latin characters in terms of their acceptance, Commercial International Bank (CIB) until the first of November,
validation, storage and processing and display. the ministry noted. Citizens could now pay their government
(August 18, 2019) tra.gov.eg dues, which exceed EGP 500, at any of the 4,000 postal offices
nationwide or any of the banks subscribing to the government
Egypt is well on the way towards achieving digital transformation E-payment system, the ministry added.
and attaining the goals of financial inclusion, the Ministry of (August 13, 2019) egypttoday.com

Iran

Dr. Sayyid Babak Ebrahimi, Deputy President of Strategy and ranks. He also expressed that by carrying out close cooperation
Market Development at the Communications Regulatory Authority with international specialized organizations and implementing
(CRA), announced that in accordance with the latest ranking by a comprehensive set of appropriate plans to enhance country’s
the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), I. R. of Iran regulatory status and gain at least overall score of 85 in the
ranked 87th with overall score of 75 in 2017 and 77th with overall coming years and consequently, Islamic Republic of Iran will
score of 82 (3rd generation regulator) in 2018, respectively. In achieve fourth-generation of regulatory.
comparison to last year, it has grown 5 overall scores and 12 (August 14, 2019) cra.ir

Jordan

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has recently framework for best practices to measure the quality of services
approved the final version of the TRA recommendation on provided and covers the quality of mobile phone networks,
measurement campaigns, monitoring systems and sampling characteristics and requirements for monitoring systems and
methodologies for monitoring the quality of services provided scenarios for post-analysis of the required samples, as well as the
through mobile phone networks. The Chairman of the Board of sampling methodologies used by system users, manufacturers
Commissioners, Dr. Ghazi Al-Jabbour, stressed the importance of used testing equipment and network measurement and data
of this achievement, stressing the role played by the TRA at the analysis agencies. And service providers to monitor the quality of
international level as one of the influential bodies in drawing services at the national level. (August 21, 2019) trc.gov.jo
up the relevant policies in coordination with the international
institutions concerned with the development and development Total investments in the mobile phone sector stood at around
of the telecommunications sector. As an international training JD93 million during the last year, according to Telecommunication
center in the field of quality of telecommunication services. Dr. Al- Regulatory Commission Chief Commissioner Ghazi Jbour.
Jabbour pointed out that the recommendation was made by the He indicated that these investments amount to 68 per cent
head of the quality control department representing the TRA in the of the overall investments by the companies operating in
ITU Study Group 12 during his participation in the ITU Conference the telecommunications sector, including property, technical
(ITU-T SG 12). It applies to all users of quality control systems. equipment and specialized computer programmes and machines,
Jabour added that the recommendation describes a basic according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra. Investments in fixed

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