By Mohamed Alaa El-Din
The Division of Communication Centres Owners and Mobile Division at the Cairo Chamber of Commerce held a meeting with officials in mobile companies, the Independent Syndicate of Communications and Mobiles, and some senior traders in mobile lines market.
The meeting occurred to discuss the impacts of the National Telecommunication Regulatory Authority’s (NTRA) decision to halt selling mobile lines outside branches of mobile companies. It also sought to discuss legal consequences for those who violate the decision, which could result in imprisonment.
An official at the Independent Syndicate of Communications and Mobiles said that the meeting discussed the consequences of the decision on traders. They face, in particular, suspension for a period of three months should they continue to sell mobile lines.
The decision will last for three months until distributers and companies reach an agreement over the issue.
According to the official, the meeting also discussed several suggestions to reach a mechanism for selling mobile lines in a way that guarantees no harm to traders financially. Furthermore, the meeting discussed mechanisms to maintain national security through making sure of the consumer’s identity and registering their data.
The most significant suggestions were allowing employees from companies to work within distributers’ shops, whereby they would be responsible for selling and activating the lines that the companies agreed on, selling lines through the original IDs, and raising the price of lines to increase distributers’ revenues. The meeting also suggested providing distributers with e-readers for IDs to facilitate the selling process and guarantee more precision.
Moreover, a committee was formulated, comprising of: representatives from the three service providers, Mobinil, Vodafone, and Etisalat; as well as a representative from the Division of Communication Centres Owners; a representative from the Syndicate of Communications and Mobiles; and a representative from the NTRA. The committee’s role would be to coordinate between service providers and the NTRA.
