Dr Mohammed Al Amer, Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) chairman and acting director-general, believes the Kingdom has a telecom industry in which the country can be proud.

“At two recent award ceremonies, our telecom operators picked up a number of key awards,” says Al Amer. “We are really punching above our weight and garnering a well-earned reputation not just within the Gulf but a wider region that includes the whole of the Middle East, Africa and, even, South Asia.”

Only when pushed does he also acknowledge that the TRA picked up the ‘gong’ for Best Regulator at the 2nd Annual South Asia, Middle East and Africa (Samena) Regional Awards 2009 held recently in Istanbul, Turkey.

When he is not overseeing the local telecom industry, Al Amer can be found over at the Central Information Office (CIO). It’s where he began his long association with government agencies, helping to make sense of a primitive addressing system within the Kingdom back in the 1980s. “In those days,” he recalls, “you could send a letter by noting on the envelope, for instance, ‘house next door to the local cold store’.”

One of the more than 100 e-services now operated by various government bodies, the Bahrain Locator website (www.bahrainlocator.gov.bh) offers a more structured way
of finding your way around the Kingdom! In fact, if plans contained within Vision 2030 become a reality the only ‘addressing’ required on a digitally-intelligent island will be packets of data — delivered at lightning speed on multiple high-bandwidth networks. It is a remit and a challenge that Al Amer is more than happy to accept.

Spending the TRA millions
It would be remiss, though, not to ask the TRA regulator what he plans to do with all the millions of dinars scooped by the agency through the receipt of licence fees to operators such as STC.

“Any surplus funds at the TRA, under the law, go back to the government,” notes Al Amer. Nevertheless, one of the areas that he expects to see some of these deployed is to ensure that all Bahrainis are connected to a broadband network.

“There is a clear correlation between economic development and bandwidth capacity on broadband networks,” he notes.

“The higher the bandwidth, the better the economic progress will be.”

A key component of Vision 2030 is the availability of seamless broadband networks and better connectivity. “Like highways, once these networks are up, people will be using them. As we start to see new services such as Internet Television (IPTV) introduced, which will happen this year, we will need networks with greater bandwidth capacity, operating at higher speeds.”

How the TRA, in conjunction with the government achieves this, was the focus of an important conference held in the Kingdom last month. The two-day event, organised by the TRA invited speakers from around the globe to talk about their experiences in setting up high bandwidth, ubiquitous broadband networks.

“Country-specific case studies were made by regulators and operators, followed by a panel discussion to analyse the advantages and disadvantages of the different solutions deployed,” says Al Amer, “The conference offered us a unique level of expertise and experience to discuss the issues faced when considering how best to achieve a more diversified economic base and sustainable growth.”