The government has launched a new licensing initiative for telecom communication towers and masts determining their exact specifications and locations.
The Municipalities Affairs and Agriculture Ministry, the Information and eGovernment Authority (iGA) and the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) have jointly announced the service via the electronic Benayat system.
It allows companies providing telecommunications services to obtain a licence to build a communication tower, whether on vacant land or on an existing building, by submitting and following up on the request to obtain a licence from an accredited engineering office.
iGA chief executive Mohammed Al Qaed praised the joint efforts made by all relevant government agencies, which contributed to the rapid launch of the new electronic service, which highlights the continuation of the development of the nation’s online strategy.
“The re-engineering of procedures for issuing a tower licence and converting it 100 per cent electronically has contributed to reducing the number of government agencies involved in issuing a licence from 10 to seven,” he added.
“It has also contributed to reducing the time period for issuing a licence from 40 days to five working days, within the service level agreement.
“Additionally, it links the telecommunications tower licensing system with other systems such as the municipalities system, the population registry system, and the records system to automate the input verification process, facilitate the submission process and enhance electronic linkage and integration between government operations.”
He explained that providing the new electronic service enhances the process of sorting and automating requests to some government agencies, according to areas and inputs using geographic information systems technologies.
Municipalities Affairs Under-Secretary Shaikh Mohammed bin Ahmed Al Khalifa confirmed that this service is now available on the Banayat platform.
“This launch comes as an important step towards enhancing the communications infrastructure in the kingdom, while facilitating the procedures related to issuing licences and reflects the government’s commitment to developing the investment environment and supporting modern communications projects.”
Onlookers hope this will ensure not only better connectivity but a more co-ordinated response when it comes to the placing of telecom masts and towers.
Parliament’s financial and economic affairs committee chairman MP Ahmed Al Salloom applauded the move, however, he has already asked for a review on the locations of all masts.
“There have been numerous complaints by people from residential neighbourhoods about masts being placed in the middle of home yards and at the top of buildings,” he said.
“There is no exact count of how many masts or where they are all located.
“Many of the existing ones may be old and in need of replacement to meet technological advancements, so we will need to find out whether they too will have to be registered through the newly-introduced system.”
mohammed@gdnmedia.bh
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