Page 64 - SAMENA Trends - September 2023

REGULATORY & POLICY UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

TRA Oman Organizes Workshop on 3G 'Shutdown' Plans

As part of the preparations for the gradual such as the banking sector, public services, stopping 3G services and identifying the
stopping of 3G Internet services, the and oil and gas, which are expected to be challenges to ensure the ease of transition
Telecommunications Regulatory Authority affected by the suspension. The workshop to the 4G and 5G services. The workshop
(TRA) organized a workshop for sectors was aimed at discussing the reasons for reviewed international experiences in
stopping 3G services, and the participants
were briefed on the numbers and types of
devices that operate only with 3rd network.
By stopping 3G services, the authority
seeks to invest in modern and advanced
technologies, improve network efficiency,
reduce operations and maintenance
costs, keep pace with the acceleration and
technological development, and improve
sustainability, which enhances the security
and safety of information and networks
and enhances the experience of users of
4G and 5G networks. TRA will carry out a
limited experiment to stop the 3G services,
according to plans prepared in coordination
with the telecommunications companies,
to identify the challenges in preparation for
the start of the gradual suspension in the
third quarter of the year 2024.

Ofcom UK Urges Industry Progress on Phone Number Porting

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has written to the Office of the done separately, which can attract extra porting costs. In fairness,
Telecoms Adjudicator (OTA) as part of efforts to encourage the Ofcom has at least managed to introduce a “Right to Port“, which
adoption of changes to improve phone number porting between requires phone operators to provide phone number porting to
providers, ideally in time for the revised launch of the One Touch customers that request it for at least 30 days after the termination
Switch (OTS) migration system for broadband ISPs. At present the of a contract, unless the customer expressly agrees otherwise
OTS system, which has suffered significant delays (here) and isn’t when ending their contract (mobile operators do this too). This
now expected to be introduced until 14th March 2024, is primarily makes it harder for ISPs to shun any responsibility when a number
focused on making it quicker and easier for consumers on any goes missing during a switch. However, the OTA has been working
broadband provider to switch ISP – regardless of the underlying with the telecoms industry to explore further improvements to
physical network. Phone number porting is also covered by the number portability, which is something that Ofcom has been trying
OTS system, but it doesn’t really do much in terms of tackling some to keep aligned to the OTS system for hopefully obvious reasons.
of the long-standing problems with number portability itself. For Sadly, progress on this front has been generally a bit unclear,
example, trying to split your home number out from a broadband although the regulator has just written a new Open Letter to the
package (e.g. in order to put it on a VoIP line) remains a tedious OTA that appears to highlight some positive developments
nightmare (details), which can result in disconnection. Number (“express porting “).
porting also remains a somewhat slow and manual process when

64 SEPTEMBER 2023