February 2013 71 www.bahrainthismonth.com reporttelecomreview reporttelecomreview The cause of the latest hoo-hah within the telecommunications sector in the Kingdom relates to the awarding of additional licences within the 900, 1,800, 1,900, 2,100 and 2,600 MHz frequency bands. Needless to say, the existing three mobile operators, together with Mena Telecom, argued that, in saturated market, the sector was already sufficiently competitive. The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) did not buy into this objection, although the regulator did conclude that no affirmative action — to reserve capacity for new entrants — was required. Instead, the TRA plans to proceed to auction off five lots of new frequency spectrums, with the winners being announced in the second quarter of this year. This scenario has come about as a result of a specific conclusion reached in compiling the third National Telecommunications Plan published in July last year. This noted that the Kingdom was disadvantaged “by the inability of its providers of mobile services to create infrastructure that complies with Long Term Evolution (LTE) standards in a technically efficient manner”. Moreover, the “lack of efficiently provided [beyond] 3G-based services is likely to deprive citizens of attractive mobile functionality, and diminish the external perception of Bahrain as a leader in the adoption [of new technologies].” LTE or STR? LTE is so-named as it is intended to establish a platform from which a whole host of new services can be delivered, which will dramatically change and improve the mobile experience for the customer in the long term. Ironically, LTE would seem to have the capacity to deliver an entirely different result — a short-term revolution (STR)! There is, though, an altruistic viewpoint on the issue of additional mobile licences. Historically, a level playing in the telecom sector has centered on access to the fixed line network owned by an incumbent operator. In this world there are no constraints to the number of players. Anyone who wants to operate in this market — the majority of the new operators — can simply apply for an appropriate licence. But what constitutes a level playing field in the increasingly mobile world in which we live? Should there be any restrictions on the number of mobile players? Moreover, one might argue the inability to acquire access to a mobile network creates a distorted and unfair market. Such a lack of access could be seen as a competitive disadvantage. Even the mobile operators themselves, across the globe, no longer see ‘ownership’ of a mobile network as being an exclusive imperative. Many have opened discussions and done deals on ‘sharing’ network infrastructure in order to optimise costs. Much of the fisticuffs we have seen in recent years has surrounded agreement to the wholesale fee other operators should pay Batelco for the use of ‘their’ fixed line network. The TRA is planning to open up the mobile market in a similar fashion, with new plans on spectrum packaging (due in 2014) and with it the ability to trade such spectrums. This, potentially, opens the door to one (or more) bidders for the new spectrum capacity to act solely as a wholesaler, retailing capacity to whoever wishes to use it. We are all familiar with the ‘gold rush’ scenario; it was those who sold the spades that made the money rather than the prospectors! Such a scenario in the mobile market would indeed create a revolution in the short term. David M. Robertson Just when you think peace has broken out on the telecommunications front, along comes a little storm front to create some turbulence, and make life interesting! Here We Go! Communicating on-the-go
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