From left: Dr Reham el-Mayet, Tariq al-Awadhi, Saleh al-Kuwari and Khalid N Sadiq al-Hashmi, principal CRA administrator at the opening of the 19th ASMG meeting yesterday. PICTURE: Jayan Orma

Radio communication sector representatives from ministries and organisations in Arab countries converged in Doha yesterday to officially open the 19th meeting of the Arab Spectrum Management Group (ASMG).
The participants will plan for the preparatory conference slated from March 23 to April 2 in Geneva, ahead of the 15th World Radio Communication Conference (WRC-15) that will be held later this year.
Hosted by the Communications Regulatory Authority (CRA), the ASMG meeting aims to study the draft report of the preparatory conference which was recently issued by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
The draft report is a result of four years of extensive studies which included work done in the sector by countries concerned as well as their sub-groups and committees. This work has led to a uniform initial position for Arab countries in relation to the conference agenda items and provides documentation about the unified Arab view for the next
conference.
ASMG chairman Tariq al-Awadhi, Qatar National Spectrum Steering Committee chairman Saleh al-Kuwari and League of Arab States (LAS) representative Reham el-Mayet led the opening yesterday by delivering their speeches. Al-Kuwari is also the chairman and adviser of CRA.
The WRC is considered one of the most significant conferences organised by ITU every four years. It tackles several important issues related to spectrum, including procedures and regulations of the usage of spectrum and its applications in relation with the most advanced technologies and techniques that enhance the growth of the telecom sector.
The ASMG meeting in Doha also includes coordination sub-meetings with a number of other regional groups in a bid to exchange views and understand their positions on the conference agenda items before the official participation in the conference.
CRA said the meeting will also discuss developments on the process of coordination taking place between the relevant administrations in the Arab countries. These are under the auspices of ITU and the Arab States Broadcasting Union, which are correlated to the conversion to digital terrestrial broadcasting.
ASMG was formed based on Resolution No.77 issued by Arab Telecommunications and Information Council of Ministers. It called for the harmonisation of stances on the main topics raised and discussed in the international conferences which acted as a permanent task force that would manage all affairs related
to frequency spectrum.
ASMG convenes periodically prior to and after conferences. The first meeting was organised in December 2001.
The meeting in Doha, which will conclude tomorrow, has been organised in coordination with the General Secretariat of the League of Arab States, the Telecom Bureau for Communications under the Secretariat of the GCC, ITU, the International Federation of Amateur Radio, and the International Society for Mobile Networks. A number of Arab telecommunications and satellite companies are also participating in the meeting.