Supreme Council for Information and Communication Technology

Tips for Summer Travelers As citizens and residents throughout Qatar are heading out on their summer holidays to escape the heat, most are taking their mobile phones with them to stay in touch with friends in family while away.

Using your mobile phone while outside of Qatar requires international roaming, which is often quite expensive. International roaming charges will apply to calls you make and receive, SMS, MMS and mobile internet services. To help reduce the potential stress from high summer phone bills, the Supreme Council for Information and Communication Technology, ictQATAR, offers the following tips to keep in mind while using your mobile phone outside of Qatar.

Will my mobile phone work overseas?

Qtel, Al Jazeera and the Doha Debates were all recognized for their impressive websites as recipients of the 2009 Arab e-Content Awards at an awards ceremony held in Bahrain yesterday. The Arab e-Content Awards recognize quality e-content and promote creativity and innovation in the development of new media applications in the Arab World.

The Supreme Council for Information and Communication Technology (ictQATAR), nominated the three honorees for the World Summit Awards (WSA), which automatically entered them in the Arab e-Content Awards. WSA is a global contest to select best practice in e-Content and innovative ICT applications with the 2009 awards being officially announced later in June.

Over 50 teams from schools across Qatar will compete in the 2009 Digital Star Competition, which asked students to submit digital projects that showcase how learning and teaching could be improved through the use of technology. The competition, which is co sponsored by College of the North Atlantic-Qatar (CNA-Q) and the Supreme Council for Information and Communication Technology (ictQATAR), will take place on Saturday, May 30 9:00 at CNA-Q’s main campus.

The Supreme Council for Information and Communication Technology, ictQATAR, today launched a second round of public consultation on its proposed licensing framework for the telecommunications sector in Qatar. ictQATAR holds the authority to establish a fair, objective and transparent licensing regime under Telecommunications Law no. 34 of 2006. This consultation relates to services which will not normally be provided by a licensed public network operator.

Interconnection Service Charges Determined Interconnection of telecommunications networks allows users of these networks to communicate with each other.

The interconnection service charges comprise the costs of the interconnection service, including the cost for terminating a call or an SMS on a network. These interconnection charges must not be confused with the retail charges which are paid by the customer to their telecommunications service provider for a service or subscription.

The Supreme Council for Information and Communication Technology, ictQATAR, today published revised License terms for the second mobile operator, Vodafone Qatar on April 5th, 2009. Under the terms of its license Vodafone Qatar was required to achieve 98% population coverage and launch full services by 1 March 2009. The revised terms require 98% coverage by 1 September 2009 and the launch of services, including two-way phone mobile and SMS, by 1 July 2009.

ictQATAR made the decision to amend the license due to unforeseen delays experienced by Vodafone Qatar such as acquiring sites for mobile base stations. To date, the company has switched on its network, achieved interconnection with Qtel, and has launched a trial service to establish the effectiveness of its network.

Just a week after tallg posted that Vodafone Qatar was having trouble keeping their masts up, ictQatar has revised the licensing terms to accommodate delays. Here are the details from ictQatar:

The Supreme Council for Information and Communication Technology, ictQATAR, today published revised License terms for the second mobile operator, Vodafone Qatar on April 5th, 2009. Under the terms of its license Vodafone Qatar was required to achieve 98% population coverage and launch full services by 1 March 2009. The revised terms require 98% coverage by 1 September 2009 and the launch of services, including two-way phone mobile and SMS, by 1 July 2009.

ictQATAR made the decision to amend the license due to unforeseen delays experienced by Vodafone Qatar such as acquiring sites for mobile base stations. To date, the company has switched on its network, achieved interconnection with Qtel, and has launched a trial service to establish the effectiveness of its network.

Announcing the revised license terms, Dr. Hessa Al-Jaber, ictQATAR Secretary General said ""Despite the fact that Vodafone Qatar has not met the initial target dates set out in its license, ictQATAR is satisfied with the progress that has been made on network development and interconnection with Qtel, and looks forward to the launch of competitive telecommunications service in Qatar in the near future"".

Following amending the license terms, ictQATAR has decided not to cash the performance bonds it holds against Vodafone Qatar's coverage obligations amounting to QAR 110million. ictQATAR will continue to hold these performance bonds as security to ensure the revised coverage obligations are met.

The complete amended license can be viewed on the ictQATAR website: http://www.ictqatar....

The Supreme Council for Information and Communication Technology (ictQATAR) and College of the North Atlantic-Qatar (CNA-Q) hosted the second annual conference on e-education, "ICT Conference 2009: Exploring ICT in Education" on March 7 and 8 at CNA-Q's Duhail Campus. Nearly 500 educators from across Qatar attended the conference, which featured lectures and workshops with leading international experts in the field of ICT (information and communication technology) in education.

The Supreme Council for Information and Communication Technology (ictQATAR) and College of the North Atlantic-Qatar (CNA-Q) will host the second annual conference on e-education, “ICT Conference 2009: Exploring ICT in Education.” The two-day conference, taking place March 7 and 8 at CNA-Q’s Duhail Campus, will bring together educators from across Qatar and leading international experts in the field of ICT (information and communication technology) in education.