A routine inspection at a telecom shop.
The Communications Regulatory Authority (CRA) has conducted its second round of inspections of shops selling telecommunications devices & equipment, this year from October 1 to 26.
The inspection included a total of 330 shops and resulted in 98 written violation notices issued to shops for operating without having the required licenses.
CRA issued notices for a range of violations, the most common being to shops selling mobile phones without a license. The notice requires non-compliant shops to regularise their licence within a specified period of time to avoid CRA taking the appropriate legal action. CRA noticed considerable improvement in the awareness of shops owners’ about the importance of obtaining the necessary prior approvals to sell telecommunications equipment. In this round of inspections CRA issued notices to 30 percent of the inspected shops compared to 74 percent of the shops inspected in April 2017.
To ensure consumers get certified telecoms devices from licensed shops; as they may lose their rights if they buy telecoms devices and equipment from unlicensed shops.
Commercially registered companies in Qatar who want to import radio and telecommunications devices and equipment are required to obtain the necessary prior licenses and approvals from CRA including an import authorisation license, type approval certificate and customs clearance certificate.
Approvals are mandatory to ensure the equipment meets certain safety and technical standards. Radio and telecommunications equipment includes, but is not limited to, mobile phones, wireless local area networks (WLAN), and short range devices (SRD).
Inspections are conducted on a regular basis by CRA’s technical inspectors to ensure that shops are not selling or using radio and telecommunications devices & equipment illegally and to take appropriate action if they are found to in violation of the regulations. The recent inspection targeted popular locations that sell devices including malls, souks, commercial areas, as well as neighbourhood grocery stores.
