The Communications Regulatory Authority (CRA) has conducted a series of intensive workshops highlighting the importance of effective competition in the country’s
telecommunications sector.
The workshops, held from January 15 to 19, also focused on how open competition in this sector is an essential factor underpinning the achievement of the objectives of Qatar’s National
Vision 2030.
The CRA stressed that the workshops form a key part of the implementation and enforcement measures of the Competition Framework, issued by CRA in 2015 to encourage competition and to combat anti-competitive practices in Qatar’s telecommunications sector. The Competition Framework includes a Competition Policy, Market Assessment Methodology, and a Complaints Process.
“As the communications sector evolves and looks to support Qatar’s National Vision 2030, open and fair competition has increasingly become important to encourage sustainable growth and success.
“Engaging government officials, service providers, and key members of the CRA to discuss frameworks developed to tackle anti-competitive behaviour is a solid step towards sustainable competition in Qatar’s telecommunications market to ultimately benefit consumers and service providers equally,” a CRA spokesperson said.
The CRA adopted an innovative approach to the workshops by discussing the key concepts of the Competition Framework, such as anti-competitive practices, abuses of dominance and investigations, with the aid of an interactive simulated activity in which participants assumed the role of ‘enforcers’ to investigate a number of scenarios.
Customised software for the activities was also used during the workshop sessions as an educational tool, encouraging collaboration and team-building.
The workshops were attended by representatives from the Ministry of Transport and Communications (MoTC), service providers, and CRA.
The CRA said it also intends to conduct similar workshop for the
government sector.
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