The General Authority for Regulating the Telecommunications Sector rewards subscriber for contributing to solve emergency numbers issue

The General Authority for Regulating the Telecommunications Sector (TRA) rewarded a user after he drew attention to one of the licensed service providers, the important issue regarding the inability to call emergency numbers, and in any case that the subscriber’s number is out of service.

The complaint was addressed by an Iraqi Engineer named Ammar Al Rawi, who called in to Al Bath Al Mubashar program at the Noor Dubai radio station, drawing attention to his inability to contact the 999 emergency number while his number was out of service due to a billing issue. Therefore, the TRA communicated with the authorized service provider in order to repair the issue, which was a temporary defect due to the company’s mobile network updates, which were serviced and functional within the same day. Al Bath Al Mubashar was also contacted to clarify and explain all aspects of the situation. Due to the extent of the issue at hand, and its effect on the lives of users, Eng. Amaar was contacted and rewarded for this contribution.

“We are all partners in this nation, to improve the quality of services. The TRA looks at such user partnerships as a precious gift to open our eyes to all aspects of development and improvement, said His Excellency Hamad Obaid Al Mansouri, TRA Director General.

“On behalf of the TRA, as the responsible entity for the regulation of all aspects of the telecommunications sector, we would like thank Eng. Ammar for drawing attention to this very important issue, which relates to the safety and security of users throughout the UAE. And we emphasize here the need for all operators to verify that all users can permanently access and call emergency numbers to ensure rapid responses in all cases, by the concerned authorities,” said H.E Engineer Majed Al Mesmar, TRA’s Deputy Director General for the Telecommunications Sector.

The TRA extends its gratitude to the Emirates Telecommunications Corporation – Etisalat, for their rapid response in dealing with this situation, through taking all measures that contribute to the provision of the service in a very short time. Providing emergency number services is an essential factor for maintaining customer safety, by enabling them to get speedy assistance in emergency conditions.

The meeting was also attended by Mr. Saif bin Ghalaita, Director of Technology Development Department at TRA and Ahmed Yousef Mohammed, Director\Regulatory Relationship, Regulatory Affairs department at Etisalat.  

The strategy adopted by the TRA and agreed upon by authorized service providers dictates the importance of ensuring that all users are capable of calling and communicating with the police, ambulance, and civil defense departments at all times and under any circumstances. This is in a bid to maintain the security and safety of all users, ensuring speedy responses and interventions in case of any emergency.