Page 93 - SAMENA Trends - December 2023

REGULATORY & POLICY UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

In order to measure the performance and quality of Cellular Mobile The performance of the CMOs was also benchmarked using
Operators’ (CMOs) services being provided to their customers, Ookla ® Speed Test mobile application to gauge the performance
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has carried out an of Upload & Download Throughputs and Network Latency. The
Independent Quality of Service (QoS) Survey in seventeen (17) x survey results revealed that CMOs are compliant with respect to
cities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh. Additionally, a upload and download speed to a great extent, while improvement
joint QoS survey along with CMOs was carried out in seven (07) is observed in network latency and webpage loading time as
x cities of Gilgit Baltistan during 3rd quarter i.e. July~ Sep 2023. compared to earlier surveys. Similarly, some of the Voice KPIs
During the survey, Mobile Network Coverage along with QoS have also been found below the licensed threshold in few areas.
KPIs of Voice, SMS and Mobile Broadband were checked using Necessary instructions have been issued to the operators for
state-of-the-art automated QoS Monitoring & Benchmarking Tool taking corrective measures so as to ensure improvement in the
to ascertain conformance with Next Generation Mobile Service service quality up to the standards. The survey results are available
(NGMS) licenses and Cellular Mobile Network Quality of Service at PTA’s website (https://pta.gov.pk/en/consumer-support/qos-
Regulations 2021. Based upon the compliance level of each KPI survey/qos-survey). The service quality monitoring activity is being
against threshold defined in the respective licenses and QoS carried out by PTA field teams with the ultimate aim to pursue the
Regulations, CMOs have been ranked between 1st to 5th position operators for provision of better mobile services and to promote a
in Mobile Network Coverage and Voice Services as per compliance healthy competition among the operators.
level in surveyed cities. Similarly, in Mobile Broadband Speed (December 8, 2023) www.pta.gov.pk
segment, the ranking is with respect to the highest data download
and upload speed, network latency and webpage loading time.

Qatar

The State of Qatar, represented by the Communications Regulatory The Communications Regulatory Authority (CRA) has adopted
Authority (CRA), and the Republic of Korea, represented by the a policy on Private Mobile Networks Using the Fifth Generation
Central Radio Management Service (CRMS) of the Korean Ministry (5G) Technology in light of its 2022 public consultation about the
of Science and ICT, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) subject, to which CRA invited all stakeholders to share their views
for the development of radio spectrum management. The MOU was and comments. Responses to the consultation were received
signed by Eng. Ahmad Abdulla AlMuslemani President of CRA, and from various stakeholders, including telecommunications Service
Mr. Jeongsam Kim, Director General of CRMS. The MOU reflects Providers, Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
the two parties’ recognition of the significance of cooperation equipment vendors, government entities, and large Enterprises in
for the efficient use of radio frequencies and the development the State of Qatar. CRA has taken into consideration the views and
of quality radio communication services. The MOU also shows comments of the stakeholders and issued its final position about
the two sides’ desire for fruitful, solid partnership in the field of this subject in a Policy Statement. As per the Policy Statement,
Information and Communications Technology (ICT). Per the MOU, CRA encourages Enterprises (businesses as well as government
Qatar and Korea will cooperate in radio spectrum management organizations) to use the 5G networks and services of the two
field according to the changes of radio spectrum environment, public mobile operators in Qatar (Ooredoo Qatar Q.P.S.C. and
joint response to radio spectrum monitoring methods including Vodafone Qatar P.Q.S.C.). However, if an Enterprise wants to
satellite radio monitoring, and exchange education and training establish and operate its own 5G private mobile network and
experience to promote human resources in the radio spectrum requests a spectrum license from CRA to be able to do so, CRA
management field. The MOU also covers the cooperation of both would be willing to examine such exceptional cases provided that
parties in conferences related to radio spectrum management the spectrum license application of the Enterprise must include a
hosted by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) or set of specific requirements, as mentioned in the Policy Statement.
other international organizations and the exchange of experience (December 12, 2023) www.cra.gov.qa
and information on radio spectrum management of international
events hosted by both parties. (December 20, 2023) www.cra.gov.qa

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