The Bahrain Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) said it was revoking all licences held by telecommunication group 2Connect.

The TRA resolution states that 'all licences of 2Connect shall be revoked within one week of publication of the resolution in the official gazette, which coincides with March 27'.

'As a result of this revocation, all telecommunications services provided to 2Connect's customers will be permanently disconnected once the deadline stated in the resolution comes to pass, under article (24)(a) of the telecommunications law which prohibits the provision of telecommunications services without a licence,' said a statement from TRA director of information and communications technologies Ahmed Aldoseri.

The TRA's resolution also includes the revocation of all radio frequency licences assigned to 2Connect, he added.

He urged all customers of 2Connect to expedite the process of procuring replacement services to ensure no interruptions occur to their telecommunications services, especially for business customers.

'The TRA is ready to provide any and all assistance necessary to such customers to facilitate transition to a different service provider,' he said.

When contacted, the TRA officials declined to comment on the issue, while a 2Connect official said the services at the telecom firm 'were normal and will continue to be so.'

Assuring customers that all services were intact, the official said, 'the issue is being sorted out at the highest level and an announcement will made in this regard soon.'

Audit standard

In another development, the TRA announced that it has issued a draft determination for consultation which provisions for the change of audit standard of Batelco's regulatory accounts from 'properly prepared' to 'fairly presents'.

'In reviewing Batelco's regulatory reporting submissions, TRA has identified a number of deficiencies which need to be addressed through an enhanced audit requirement,' a TRA spokesman said.

'The current scope of the audit standard does not provide the necessary level of assurance.

'TRA is of the view that it should evolve from a properly prepared to fairly presents standard to ensure that the auditor not only determines the compliance of regulatory accounts with the approved framework but also ensure that the framework itself is fair and appropriate,' he said.-TradeArabia News Service