It is the core mission of the National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA) to spread the culture of 'Rights & Duties' within the ICT sector. It exerts all efforts to consolidate the relations with the civil society organizations as a nucleus of fruitful cooperation between them that aims to raise the consumer's awareness of various telecom services. Within the framework of its keenness to carry out its mandate, the NTRA has launched an awareness Campaign under the slogan 'Know Your rights'. This campaign covers all Egyptian governorates. The starting point has been the Suez governorate where the first conference of the Campaign was held in November 2009. Then conferences were held in Qalyubyyah and Luxor governorates in January 2010. Many of the directors and supervisors in charge of NGOs and representatives of the state's various sectors were invited to these conferences.
First, Suez Governorate Conference:
(Wednesday 4/11/2009)
The conference was held under the auspices of H.E General Seif El-Din Galal, the Suez Governor. It was attended by Dr. Abdel-Aziz Hegazy, President of the NGOs Union and the Former Prime minister of Egypt and Dr. Amr Badawy, the NTRA's Executive President. The proceedings of the Conference was inaugurated by the speech delivered by the Suez Governor in which he expressed his pleasure to have the Suez Governorate the starting-point of 'Know Your rights' Campaign. This Campaign has been taking place in the context of enlightening the citizens of the Suez Governorate with various telecom services and raising their awareness of their rights and duties. Moreover, the Governor expressed his appreciation of the role played by the directors and chiefs of ICT sector in developing that dynamic sector. The sector's development benefited the telecom services users in Egypt positively and enabled them to access this vital sector and benefit from various services.
Then Dr. Abdel-Aziz Hegazy expressed his pleasure for being in Suez Governorate, which had witnessed the first years of his career. He underscored the significance of the ICT sector and its role in developing the state's various sectors. This sector's development has had great impacts on the enhancement of the services available in the community. Dr. Hegazy underscored the great role of the NGOs in raising the consumers' awareness of this dynamic sector due to the necessity of their cooperation with the official authorities. This cooperation between all stakeholders, exerting strenuous efforts in this sector, should be enhanced and augmented to result in great achievements. He made mention of the necessity of activating and effectuating the NGOs' role on a larger scale as it still needed the exertion of a lot of efforts to attain the needed achievements.
Then Dr. Amr Badawy highlighted the importance of holding the first of the Campaign's conferences in the Suez Governorate due to the Governorate's greatness and honored history that took great part in the protection of the Egyptian territories and restoration of usurped rights. He mentioned the most significant telecom issues that evolved lately and the NTRA's role in facing the evolving challenges. He mentioned the NTRA's aspirations and expectations to open new cooperation channels with NGOs in order to reach different society classes and contribute to greater activation of technological culture propagation.
During the opening session, Eng. Ali Anis, Societal Interaction Director, highlighted the NTRA's role and mandate in detail through its goals and strategies. Moreover, he referred to the role of the Consumers Rights Protection Committee (CRPC), its most significant achievements and the 'Rights & Duties Covenant' of telecom services users.
Dr. Medhat El-Mesery, Professor of physical engineering, Faculty of Physical Engineering, Cairo University mentioned the health effects of mobile stations. Dr. El-Mesery managed, through a presentation he delivered, to answer various questions of mobile users about mobile stations and their different effects. All the users' concerns about the circulated rumors by unreliable sources were eliminated through the information provided to them
Then Eng. Ehab Mostafa, the NTRA's Inspection Department Manager, mentioned the requirements and specifications of mobile stations installation, the signed protocols and the specifications of the issuance measures of the conformity certificate of these stations before operating them.
Then Eng. Sameh Saed, the NTRA's Consumers Rights Department Manager, mentioned the steps to be taken to investigate the complaints submitted to the NTRA through the Call Center, and the means of complaints investigation and resolution. Many advices related to the proper measures of concluding contracts with telecom Operators and the evasion of the occurrence of any problems that might create any obstacles to service provision.
At the end of the Conference, Eng. Ali Anis referred to the Secure Internet Usage in the Egyptian households. His lecture on this topic included many advices concerning the secure internet usage and the protection of children and youth against any harassment or bad practices, they might face during internet usage.
Secondly, Qalyubyyah Governorate:
(Tuesday: 12/1/2010)
The conference was held under the auspices of Councilor Adly Hussein, Qalyubyyah Governor, at Mubarak Library in the governorat . It was attended by Dr. Abdel-Aziz Hegazy, President of the NGOs Union and the Former Prime minister of Egypt and Dr. Amr Badawy, the NTRA's Executive President. The proceedings of the Conference were inaugurated by a speech delivered by Dr. Amr Badawy in which he mentioned the role of the NTRA in telecom sector. He stated the competence and mission mandated to the NTRA through giving an outline of these competences as follows:
1- The license issuance.
2- Management of scarce resources (frequency spectrum, numbering and Right of Way.
3- Type Approval.
4- Quality Assurance.
The NTRA's Executive President referred to the fact that the NTRA has been prioritizing the enhancement of the quality of service provided. Dr. Amr Badawy elaborated on the NTRA's role in the consumers' rights protection and the prospects of cooperation with the civil society concerned with the consumers protection issues in general.
Then Dr. Abdel-Aziz Hegazy expressed his pleasure for being in Qalyubyyah Governorate and meeting the state's various sectors, (governmental or civil). Dr. Hegazy underscored the significance of telecom sector and the breakthroughs in everyday activities and its positive impacts on lifestyle. Moreover, he referred to some wrong practices that were considered a negative side of this sector. Dr. Abdel-Aziz Hegazy underscored the NGOs' great role in raising the consumers' awareness of this dynamic sector due to the necessity of their cooperation with the official authorities. This cooperation between all stakeholders, who exerted strenuous efforts in this sector, should be enhanced and augmented to result in great achievements. He made mention of the necessity of activating and effectuating the NGOs' role on a larger scale as it still needed the exertion of a lot of efforts to attain the needed achievements.
Then Councilor Adly Hussein, Qalyubyyah Governor, expressed his pleasure for selecting Qalyubyyah Governorate to host the second conference within the framework of the awareness campaign conducted by the NTRA. The Governor commended the role played by the NTRA and stated that it has been one of the most effective entities in the country. Qalyubyyah people should play a vital role in this successful system and be the first beneficiaries of the Information Revolution, he added. Councilor Adly Hussein mentioned several questions and queries about issues Qalyubyyah people were interested in. These were as follows:
1. The measures of mobile stations installation, and the NTRA's role in supervising them, in addition to their impact on the health of the human being.
2. The offers Mobile Operators have been providing and the extent of their attractiveness.
3. The method and procedures of dealing with complaints made against the service providers.
4. Smuggled telecom equipment and the NTRA's role in monitoring them.
5. The mobile lines that were not included in the Operators databases, and the NTRA's role in facing these illegal practices.
Qalyubyyah Governor expressed his wishes to get answers to these questions and queries through the lectures that would be delivered during the Conference.
The agenda of this Conference was compatible to the Conference agenda in the Suez Governorate. A lecture entitled 'The Behavior of Mobile Usage' was added to the agenda. The lecture was delivered by Dr. Samiha Dwedar, the advisor to the National Center for Social and Criminological Research. She mentioned the positive and negative effects of the lifestyle in general as the mobile phones became the main means for interaction. She referred to some negative practices related to the mobile usage.
At the end of the session, Dr. Amr Badawy answered some of the attendants' questions.
Then at the end of the Conference, a survey was conducted through s pre-set form. This survey encompassed 122 persons of the attendants (amounting to 70% of them approximately). The result was very positive as most of the participants expressed the positiveness of their participation in the Conference. In fact, these obtained many significant and useful information, a benefit which they expressed in writing in the said form.
Thirdly, Luxor Governorate Conference:
(Monday: 18/1/2010)
The conference was held under the auspices of H.E General Samir Farag, Luxor Governor at Mubarak Library in the Governorate. It was attended by Dr. Amr Badawy, the NTRA's Executive President. In the Opening Session of the Conference, Dr. Amr Badawy expressed his pleasure for being in Luxor Governorate. The NTRA's Executive President seized that great opportunity to congratulate Luxor people for having Luxor City becoming a Governorate, owing to the great cultural significance thereof. This was due to the greatness and stupendous heritage contained that great Governorate. It is worth mentioning that Luxor Governorate contained one third of the global ancient monuments and temples with all the positive impact this had on the augmentation of tourism sector, hence enriching the national income. The NTRA's Executive President commended the pedigree of the people of Luxor Governorate which the whole world bore witness to.
Then he mentioned the competences and role of the NTRA in the telecom sector. Dr. Amr Badawy referred to the mobile lines sold without having any data about the buyers included in the Operators' databases. A respite was given to the Operators to complete their subscribers data. This respite would end by February 2010. Any Operator that would violate this stipulation would have his services suspended. Moreover, Dr. Amr Badawy made mention of the smuggled phones and the NTRA's role in abstaining from issuing licenses except the batches that comply with the specifications approved by the NTRA.
Then H.E. General Samir Farag, Luxor Governor, expressed his pleasure for hosting the NTRA Conference in Luxor Governorate. The NTRA's visit to Luxor synchronized with the declaration of Luxor as a Governorate. Luxor Governor made mention of the great tourism boom Luxor has been witnessing as the hotels occupancy amounted to 95%. Then H.E. referred to the telecom sector's role in developing the state's various sectors, including tourism. Luxor Governorate has been covered by High-Speed Internet Networks that enabled people to use this great technology. He wished the continuation of cooperation between the NTRA and Luxor Governorate.
Eng. Ehab Medhat, the representative of the Union of NGOs, delivered a speech on behalf of Dr. Abdel-Aziz Hegazy (who did not attend the Conference for having certain commitments at the same time). In that speech, Eng. Ehab Medhat elaborated on the emergence of NGOs in Egypt and the pioneering role these organizations played ever since their inception as they contributed to the provision of many services. He referred to the fruitful cooperation between the NTRA and the Union in spurring the active NGOs mandated to protect the consumers within telecom sector as it had done with other sectors.
The Conference Agenda:
- An outline of the NTRA and CRPC's roles [Eng. Ali Anis, Societal Interaction Director].
- Mobile Technology and its impact on health and environment [Dr. Medhat El-Mesery, professor of physical engineering, Faculty of Physical Engineering, Cairo University].
- Mobile Station Specifications and requirements [Eng. Ehab Mostafa, the NTRA's Inspection Department Manager].
- Mobile Usage Practices (Mobile Users' Behavior) [Dr. Samiha Dwedar, Professor of Psychology and Department Head in the National Center for Social and Criminological Research].
- Eng. Sameh Saed, the NTRA's Consumers Rights Department Manager.
- Secure Internet Usage in the Egyptian households [Eng. Ali Anis, Societal Interaction Director].
Fourth, South Sinai Governorate Conference:
(20/4/2010)
The National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA) held 'Know Your Rights' Conference in South Sinai Governorate under the auspices of H.E General Muhammad Shusha, the Governor of South Sinai Governorate.
That Conference was held within the framework of a series of conferences the NTRA intended to hold in all Egyptian governorates. Many prominent figures in ICT sector participated in the Conference that was attended by directors and supervisors in charge of NGOs. The Conference aimed essentially to raise the consumer's awareness of technological aspects, his rights and obligations. The conference panelists were Dr. Amr Badawy, the NTRA's Executive President, Dr. Abdel-Aziz Hegazy, and Dr. Mahmoud El-Sherif.
At the beginning of the conference, General Muhammad Shusha, the Governor of South Sinai Governorate, welcomed the attendants. He expressed his appreciation of the conference theme and objective. He underscored the fact that the Egyptian society was facing a great challenge because of the opened channels Egypt had to global cultures through advanced technological means and devices that we should know how to deal with and not just use them.
Then Dr. Amr Badawi mentioned the conference objectives. He stated that the NTRA aimed to hold such conferences and awareness discussion panels in order to create a technologically oriented consumer. The NTRA's Executive President highlighted the NTRA's mission and role in ICT sector in Egypt. He emphasized the NTRA's role as the regulator of the Egyptian ICT sector with its three players (the consumer, operators and government), he stated. In fact, the government owned the required scarce resources such as the frequency spectrum needed for any radio communication especially after the spread of mobile phones and services as the mobile users in Egypt amounted to 60 million users. Dr. Amr Badawi stressed the fact that the Egyptian citizen considered his mobile phone one of his essential necessities and an indispensable priority. The Egyptian telecom market was deregulated in 1998 when the national telecom authority turned into Telecom Egypt (TE), a joint stock company. Then the telecom regulatory authority was established and became the National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA) pursuant to Act No 10 of 2003. Dr. Amr Badawi underscored the mandate of NTRA's various sectors as for instance, the Frequency Spectrum Sector that allocated frequencies to operators and service providers, ensuring that the frequency users did not transgress others' rights. In addition, the NTRA's Type Approval Department has been ensuring telecom equipment conformity to quality standards prior to their entrance into Egypt. Hence, no telecom equipment could enter Egypt except after obtaining the NTRA's approval, he stated. On the other hand, the NTRA was monitoring mobile stations, ensuring their compatibility with health and environmental standards first then ensuring their conformity to technical specifications and standards.
Then Dr. Amr Badawi referred to the mobile lines sold without having any data about the buyers. He said that it was a global problem that had been widely spread throughout the world because of the increase in subscribers' number and distributors' negligence. This made the NTRA enumerate all mobile lines, ensuring their identification and inclusion in the Operators' databases. Starting from 2 May 2010, mobile lines would be introduced to the market with secret numbers; such lines could not be activated except after entering their users' data, Dr. Amr Badawi said.
Moreover, Dr. Amr Badawi made mention of the mobile phones that did not comply with the accredited specifications. They should not necessarily be Chinese phones as there were many Chinese phones that complied with specifications. The NTRA announced a list of all types of approved and accredited Chinese phones. As for smuggled phones (or phones sold without invoices or a warranties), NTRA was exerting strenuous efforts to eliminate them from the market. He highlighted the danger such smuggled sets were posing as they were not subject to technical and health inspection. They might endanger the citizen's health and consequently have a negative impact on networks efficacy due to their huge numbers. Every phone should have an identified number that would help track illegal calls and crimes.
Then Dr. Abdel-Aziz Hegazy said that the chief cause of his attendance at the conference was the protocol signed by the NTRA and the NGOs Union in order to activate the NGOs' role in facing some illegal practices that might be committed through mobile phones and Internet. NGOs could raise consumers' awareness of their rights and obligations through their interaction with society, he said. Dr. Hegazy mentioned some indicators and events he liked to underscore. He stated that the income of 48% of the Egyptians could not meet their basic needs; nevertheless, they had mobile phones. He added that 74% of the Egyptians were holding ration cards; this meant that they were poor.
Moreover, Dr. Hegazy said that the mobile phone became a necessity for the Egyptian citizen and source of information. Although 94% of the Egyptians abstained from reading books, they used the mobile, while 17 millions use the Internet. He said that part of the operators' revenues should be allocated to poor Egyptians. Dr. Hegazy referred to the titles of some articles that were published in the Egyptian newspapers as they indicated the emergence of perversities resulting from the wrong usage of technologies.
Some of these articles were:
'The Facebook: an Open Gambling Casino'.
'Google: Israel's Name on Maps of Egypt'.
'Mushira Khattab: Facebook and Satellite Channels Help Spread Human Trafficking Crimes'.
Kamal Abul-Maged: 'Warning Reasonable People Against Mobile Usage'.
Dr. Hegazy underscored the fact that the last article included 10 main points that encompassed the correct and proper usage of mobile phones. Dr. Hegazy underscored the significance of the 'Mobile Phones Usage Ethics Code' that had been issued by the NTRA as it included ethics and public decencies that should be observed on using mobile phones. He emphasized the fact that confronting and eliminating the said crimes and perversities was a societal responsibility and obligation that should be shouldered by the family, the state and citizen who must report on any perversity or illegal practice.
The Agenda of South Sinai Conference:
- An outline of the NTRA and CRPC's roles [Eng. Ali Anis, Societal Interaction Director, NTRA].
- Mobile Technology and its impact on health and environment [Dr. Medhat El-Mesery, Professor of physical engineering, Faculty of Physical Engineering, Cairo University].
- Mobile Station Specifications [Eng. Ehab Mostafa, the NTRA's Inspection Department Manager].
- Advices to the User [Eng. Sameh Saed, the NTRA's Consumers Rights Department Manager].
- Secure Internet Usage in the Egyptian households [Eng. Ali Anis, Societal Interaction Director, NTRA].
