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Tribune News Network
Doha
Ooredoo on Monday expressed its disappointment with Communications Regulatory Authority (CRA) for issuing orders in relation to access to its duct infrastructure.
According to Ooredoo, the CRA has not given sufficient consideration to its input or the evidence it has presented.
CRA had ordered Ooredoo Qatar recently to ensure that it provided unhindered access to its fibre duct infrastructure to passive network operator Qatar National Broadband Network (QNBN) following a complaint filed last year. The regulator also ordered Ooredoo to implement an access agreement with its main rival Vodafone Qatar in compliance with the approved Reference Infrastructure Access Offer.
"Ooredoo has been fully cooperating with the CRA and has been sharing its mobile sites with Vodafone Qatar since 2009. It opened its ducts network to QNBN in 2012 and today the majority of the QNBN network in Qatar passes through the Ooredoo network," Ooredoo said in a statement.
"We are a responsible organisation that abides by the rules. However, for the good of the people, the industry and Qatar's vision for growth, it is essential for all parties to do the same," Ooredoo said.
"Ooredoo has been in discussions with the CRA at various levels throughout the year and we believe we were progressing well to reach a final agreement on this matter," the telecom operator added.
However, the CRA has opted to make this commercial dispute into a public discussion, so Ooredoo is compelled to make the facts public.
The fact of the matter is that Ooredoo has not refused access to its network infrastructure. In Ooredoo's opinion, the CRA Decision and Order includes grave errors.
"The CRA inserted modifications in the final Reference Infrastructure Access Offer (RIAO) without consulting Ooredoo. Such modifications may expose our network to mismanagement and would negatively impact the quality of services that we offer to our customers, in particular government and public-critical services. We have a duty to protect our customers and ensure service continuity. Our experience with QNBN shows that we need to be very careful in allowing third parties to utilise our networks," Ooredoo said.
In its ruling, the CRA has not sufficiently considered QNBN's illicit use of Ooredoo's infrastructure the deliberate breach of the Infrastructure Access Agreement (IAA) referred to as 'The Sheraton Matter'. The Sheraton Matter demonstrates that QNBN is prepared to breach the IAA the issue that led to its partial suspension, which the CRA has ignored in its ruling.
Ooredoo's conduct has been in accordance with the IAA and agreements on operational matters agreed by parties outside of the IAA. Unfortunately, QNBN seems unwilling to take the steps necessary to abide by the IAA. It has not adhered to mutually-agreed safeguards, so that it could rush commercial services into the market.
QNBN's conduct has not been limited to a one-off breach of the IAA, but multiple instances that QNBN had repeatedly failed to rectify. These breaches have not been investigated by the CRA and are not mentioned in the Decision and Orders.
Ooredoo has consistently stated that it is happy to resume the IAA with QNBN, once QNBN rectifies its breaches. Ooredoo is also happy to publish the RIAO and enter into agreements with other service providers on the basis of the RIAO, once the RIAO accords with the Law.
