MUSCAT: Natural or legal persons, authorized by Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) to set up, manage or operate telecom towers, should from now on obtain a prior permit before starting to set up telecom towers whether on a public or private land.
According to the new regulations, telecom towers should be set up at least three metres higher than the adjacent building and should be surrounded by a fence excluding the towers that are set up on building edges.
The regulations issued by Salim bin Nasser al Aufi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority on Sunday, apply to both permanent and interim telecom towers.
As per the regulations, a licensee should, before submitting an application to set up a telecom tower, negotiate with the other licensees in the same area in order to share existing towers with them or provide proof of the impossibility of sharing the tower to the TRA. The licensee should propose three locations not within densely populated areas for setting up the tower to the authority to select the most suitable one. The licensee should complete the construction of the tower within a period of 120 days.
Service and maintenance of the telecom tower should be carried out only by one of the companies authorized by the TRA. The telecom tower should have sufficient capacity to accommodate three more users at least.
