Page 113 - SAMENA Trends - November-December 2021

REGULATORY & POLICY UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

telecommunications. The policies and services provided to this report, and we look forward to our further cooperation in the
persons with disabilities and the elderly were evaluated and future.” Amani Al Tamimi, ICT Access Programs and Services
discussed with stakeholders and service providers. On this Manager at Mada Center, expressed her pleasure about the launch
occasion, Eng. Salma Al-Sulaiti, Standards and Next Generation of the report, saying: “We are pleased with our partnership with
Technology Section Head, CRA said: “We are pleased to launch the CRA and with the report launch. The importance of this report
this report, which we have developed in collaboration with lies in the fact that it contributes to ensuring inclusive access
Mada Center. The importance of this report lies in the fact that to telecommunications, by introducing stakeholders to ways
it contributes to raising stakeholders’ awareness about the best of empowering users who are persons with disabilities or the
practices followed in the field of accessible telecommunications, elderly to access telecommunications services and applications,
where through their adoption, they contribute to ensuring the thus facilitating their effective involvement in learning, building
accessibility of users with disabilities and the elderly on an capacity, development, and innovation. In addition to integrating
equal basis with others, especially since ICT is a major part of them more in the society and the labor market, which contributes
our modern-day interactions and activities in various fields; to improving the quality of life and achieving development in the
education, health, environment, or others. It also contributes various pillars of Qatar National Vision 2030. On this occasion,
greatly to driving development and diversifying the Qatari I would like to thank the Communications Regulatory Authority
economy; one of Qatar National Vision 2030 goals. I would like for their continued collaboration, and we look forward to more
to thank Mada Center for all their efforts to develop and launch cooperation between us in the future.” (December 18, 2021) cra.gov.qa

Saudi Arabia

Saudi telecoms regulator the Communications and IT reveals that STC came in first place for quarterly performance in
Commission (CITC) has adopted new regulations on EMF most video games. STC outperformed Zain, Mobily, and Salam with
exposure, establishing requirements for protecting the public lower latency in all six of the most popular games in Saudi Arabia:
from risks to their health arising or likely to occur from their Fortnite, FIFA, Apex Legends, Dota 2, Valorant, and OverWatch.
exposure to radiofrequency (RF) electromagnetic fields emitted STC and Mobily were leading in World of Warcraft, and it came in
from radio devices in the frequency range 8.3KHz to 300GHz. The third with PUBG and AmongUs. For the online games League of
EMF Regulations on Exposure to Electromagnetic Fields (EMF Legends Mobily were leading, with it coming in second with PUBG,
Regulations) – up for public consultation from 11 August to 1 Valorant and third in FIFA, Apex Legends, and OverWatch. Zain
September – establish exposure limits and rules and procedures topped the list in PUBG, came in second in Fortnite, FIFA, Apex
to ensure that transmitter sites, both individually and in aggregate, Legends, League of Legends, Dota 2, World of Warcraft, AmongUs,
do not exceed the maximum permitted levels. and OverWatch. It came in third for Valorant. Local network Salam
(December 16, 2021) commsupdate.com came in third place in Fortnite, FIFA, Dota 2, World of Warcraft, and
AmongUs. It ranked fourth place in OverWatch, Valorant, PUBG,
The Communications and Information Technology Commission League of Legends, and Apex Legends. The report is part of
(CITC) announced that the new road linking the Kingdom and CITC’s framework to promote healthy competition among telecom
Oman is fully covered by the telecommunications network in the operators to provide the best experience for gamers, raise the
part located in the Kingdom. On its official twitter account, CITC level of transparency in the market, and provide investors and the
stated that it installed 34 telecommunications towers across 564 public with key data and indicators on the sector’s performance.
km in the Kingdom. On Dec. 7, Saudi Arabia and Oman announced The Q3 2021 Game Mode report also unveils valuable insights
in a joint statement opening the first direct land link crossing on the overall latency performance of telecom companies within
between the two countries. The 725 km-road will contribute to fixed, mobile, and 5G networks. CITC’s Game Mode initiative
the smooth movement of citizens of the two countries and the includes quarterly reports that compare response times among
integration of supply chains. (December 11, 2021) argaam.com service providers across some of the most popular video games
in the Kingdom. In addition, the initiative consists of an award for
The Communications and Information Technology Commission the internet service provider with the best response time for video
(CITC) published its ‘Game Mode’ report for the third quarter of gaming, a key indicator of the network’s performance.
2021, ranking Saudi Arabia’s telecom service providers based on (Nov 17, 2021) citc.gov.sa
their video game performance. This quarter’s Game Mode report

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