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TRA Evaluating Bids for Mobile TV Licence

ABU DHABI - The UAE Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) which has started evaluating bids for acquiring a licence for broadcast Mobile TV service in the UAE, said it may announce a successful bidder in March.

The process of the licensing started with the TRA holding a public consultation during June 2008 on the draft invitation document, culminated on December 31, 2008, when bids were submitted by interested parties. When consultation closed on June 26, 2008, responses were received from nine different organisations.

Considering the feedback carefully, the TRA made changes to the draft invitation document where necessary, and published a report on the consultation and the final Invitation to Submit Proposals for the Provision of Mobile TV Transmission Service in the UAE.

Mohamed Al Ghanim, TRA Director-General, said that the applicants were not limited to companies having telecom licences. Any entity fulfilling the criteria set out in the document was welcomed to put in a proposal. This new Mobile TV service is provided through a different technology other than the 3G streaming already available and will offer a wider selection of channels at better quality. Following the consultation process with the feedback that resulted in making changes on the draft invitation document, the TRA invited interested parties to submit bids for this new licence as part of its strategy endorsing the concept of transparency.

haseebhaider@khaleejtimes.com