DOHA QATAR Telecom (Qtel) has called for reducing the cost of international roaming, as well as investment in the creation of new broadband infrastructure around the world as they hold the key to continued growth.
With a description of the two as the most significant challenges for the global ICT industry, Qtel Chairman Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Saud al Thani said, "people who travel abroad are our best customers and we must ensure that they can use their mobile phones safely and securely." The price of international roaming has become a hot-button issue around the world, with the increasingly global population often confronted with the excessive and often high costs when they use their mobile abroad, thanks to the operators in the country they are visiting.
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) pushes for legislation and industry agreement that roaming price transparency, direct access to information, more competition and prices based on the actual cost price would guarantee.
According to business intelligence provider Informa, the worldwide market for roaming is expected to grow from $ 45 billion in 2012 to more than $ 60 billion by 2016, thanks to a boom in the number of international roamers. The report notes that regulation and legislation has helped competition preservation and protection of customers against escalation in costs.
"Access to broadband is increasingly important for economic development, access to information, cultural exchange and even national security," he said.
Match the growth of broadband network investment will be a crucial question for sustained growth, he told the ITU Conference in Dubai, on Sunday.
"It is the responsibility of network investors and operators to ensure that investments in broadband remain profitable, so that the Fund-flow to the sector keeps pace with public demand for broadband services", he added.
He said that it is the responsibility of Governments and their telecoms regulators to provide a framework that promotes investment, adding that national and international operators and regulators must be on the same side.
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