The Supreme Council of Information and Communication Technology, ictQATAR, has invited firms to participate in the pre-qualification of the licensing process for  three additional VSAT licences in Qatar.

The launch of this process followed a public consultation that ictQATAR conducted earlier in 2009 on its intention to license new VSAT providers in Qatar.

VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal) is a wireless, satellite-based system that can support organisations, with dispersed offices and remote sites, to have internal telecommunications (voice and data) links. It is commonly used by large organisations with multiple and remote locations, such as banks, retail stores and gas and oil companies. It is particularly useful in Qatar for off-shore gas and oil platforms to communicate with on-shore offices.

'The purpose for licensing three VSAT service providers at this phase of liberalisation of the telecommunications sector is to bring experienced VSAT service providers into the market to address a high demand for VSAT services from some of the country's key industries and to build a solid investment and competitive platform for the VSAT market', said Ahmad Sultan, Licensing Section manager at the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of ictQATAR.

The licences will authorise the operation of a VSAT network and the provision of VSAT services to Closed User Groups. The VSAT operators would not be able to provide public telecommunications services to businesses or consumers.

The licences will be issued through a competitive process to attract the best VSAT service providers. The invitation to pre-qualification is the first phase of the licensing process. Those who qualify in this phase will be eligible to compete for a licence in the second phase.-Reuters