The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has conducted a joint study with the consulting firm Strategy& (formerly as Booz & Company) to examine the regulations of the next generation of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
Titled ""Rethinking ICT regulation: Regulators’ essential role in benefitting from the full potential of the ICT sector"", the study aims to highlight the importance of regulations in the new digital environment in order to better identify the development requirements.

Commenting on the study, Partner and Vice President of Strategy& Mr. Bahjat El-Darwiche said that the purpose of the study was to create a platform for dialogue among ICT stakeholders in the Middle East on the effect of the digital revolution on existing regulatory frameworks and how regulators should respond to these disruptive forces in a manner that fosters both innovation and fairness.
The changing industry landscape is particularly acute in the Middle East where the rapidly expanding ICT sector is a vital part of national development. The telecom sector, the core of ICT, has changed from primarily focusing on infrastructure and basic connectivity to promoting a broad range of digitisation-related services, including cloud computing and smart meters.

Companies in the sector have also evolved from licensed telecom operators to a complex ecosystem of stakeholders, including over-the-top providers and device manufacturers. Policymakers have followed suit, moving their focus from establishing a liberalised, competitive marketplace to developing an innovative and economically vibrant ICT sector.

The challenge for regulators is to rethink their regulations while recognising that as their countries become more digitally sophisticated, so regulation’s effect and influence diminishes. If regulators are to promote an innovative and robust ICT ecosystem, and protect broader national interests, they should begin by examining three key areas: market efficiency, scarcity management, and safeguarding customer welfare.

Regulators will also need to draw lessons from other sectors. For ICT the most relevant lessons are that innovation drives regulation, that regulators need to intervene when non-regulated activities start negatively affecting customer welfare, and that regulators should pay attention to non-regulated activities as these create risks in regulated markets. For the Middle East, this implies a digitization-focused approach in which regulation provides ongoing oversight and monitoring of critical ICT and digital markets as they evolve across industries.

TRA Director-General Mohamed Hamad Bubashait said that regulators in the Middle East had a difficult but achievable task ahead to extend their skills and knowledge in market-making and addressing market failure to new, emerging digital markets."

He added that regulators would need to identify, adapt, and apply the best regulatory practices from around the world in ways that efficiently satisfy consumer and national interests at home.
This task is necessary to ensure the future economic and social prosperity of the MENA region, he said.