Consumer Affairs Department manager Dr Eiman al-Ansari of ictQATAR: “Arsel” mobile app enables consumers to provide real time feedback about the quality of service provided by a telecom network. PICTURE: Thajuddin


By Peter Alagos/Business Reporter


In a major initiative aimed at redressing telecom consumer complaints, the Supreme Council of Information and Communication Technology (ictQATAR) has launched a new mobile application that enables consumers to dispatch “real time” feedback or complaints about their respective service provider or telecommunications network.
The mobile app called “Arsel” has been launched by the Consumer Affairs Department at ictQATAR.
Consumer Affairs Department manager Dr Eiman al-Ansari said “Arsel” is a mobile app that enables consumers to provide feedback about the quality of service provided by a telecom network.
A key feature of Arsel, which can be downloaded via a QR Code, is that it also empowers dissatisfied consumer to report lousy telecom services, most especially if the service provider failed to resolve the issue raised by the customer.
The mobile app can provide consumers access to an online map showing other feedback or experiences about a network; the map is updated every 48 hours, al-Ansari said.
Al-Ansari told Gulf Times that Arsel was available on any smartphone or tablet running under the following operating systems: Android, iOS, and BlackBerry. However, she said the mobile app was initially available on Android and could be accessed on iOS and BlackBerry soon.
CA senior consumer protection specialist El-Sayed Ali Gomaa said an Internet Speed Test can be accessed at ictQATAR’s website – www.ictqatar.qa, which gives consumers the chance to report if their Internet speed is fast or otherwise.
He added that the data gathered will be submitted for analysis and the corresponding result will then be discussed with the telecom network.
According to Gomaa, ictQATAR periodically provides network providers its analysis of consumer complaints and feedback. In return, telecom companies submit to ictQATAR their own list of feedback from their clients.
Aside from the mobile app, Telecom Law No. (34) for 2006 gives consumers the right to file a complaint with the Consumers Affairs Department, which will then investigate the issue. Complaints may be filed on the ictQATAR website or by calling the consumer hotline 103.
During the launching of Arsel, HE the Minister of Communications and Information Technology Dr Hessa Sultan al-Jaber said the event was timely and complemented the goals of ‘World Consumer Rights Day’.
“The launching of the new mobile app was a good opportunity to celebrate the World Consumer Rights Day because the consumer has always been important to us. It is a pleasure to have such a technology that would help improve the quality of service of telecommunications networks, which would be for the ultimate benefit of the consumers,” al-Jaber said.
On March 15, 1983, Consumer International (CI) launched World Consumer Rights Day to promote consumer rights worldwide. To mark this year’s WCRD, the CI launched the “Consumer Agenda for  Fair Mobile Services,” which will be presented at the “Consumer Agenda to the World Telecommunications Development Conference” this coming April.
The CI said the agenda encourages “phone regulators and companies to take action to stop these issues undermining the success of this new technology.”
The group also reported a staggering rise in mobile phone ownership: an estimated 6.8bn people owned a mobile phone in 2013; in 2011, the record was 6bn cellular phone owners compared to 5.4bn owners recorded in 2010.
Al-Ansari said ictQATAR is, by far, satisfied with the services provided by the only two network providers in Qatar – Ooredoo and Vodafone, and described the telecommunications industry in the country as “young and energetic.”
“Based on their quality of service, these service providers are meeting their obligations and requirements with the government,” al-Ansari said.