DOHA, 28 May 2005 — Qatar launched a telecommunications regulatory body on Thursday, in a step seen as important to liberalization of the sector in the rapidly growing Gulf Arab state. “The Supreme Council for Information and Communication Technology (SCICT) is the policy making and regulatory body in Qatar for information and communication technology,” Hessa Al-Jaber, SCICT secretary-general, said in a statement.
She told Reuters after the announcement that the SCICT would be responsible for setting guidelines to allow foreign telecom firms to operate within the tiny country, but that it was premature to discuss details at this stage. Partly privatized sole operator Qatar Telecom dominates the sector in the country of some 800,000, which has a mobile phone penetration of about 80 percent.
SCICT officials said its present focus would be on creating a regulatory framework, enhancing the quality of information and communication technology, and to create awareness and better security for online services. Qatar University professor Nasser Al-Emadi said the body’s focus should be on ending Qatar Telecom’s monopoly.
“It’s a good first step, but I hope they move quickly to create a real free market with multiple operators,” he said. Qatar, a major natural gas producer, is growing fast thanks to high oil and gas prices.
