Telecommunications Service Providers and Consumers: Rights & Obligations


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Meegan Legal and Regulatory Manager
Wise companies view customers as potentially valuable long-term partners, rather than as a short term source of revenue that is easily replaceable. The moment a customer buys a SIM card or subscribes to a fixed or mobile service, the relationship with the service provider is only just beginning. From a regulatory perspective, the relationship starts even before purchase when an offer is made by the service provider. From this moment both the service provider and the consumer have rights and obligations.

Meegan Webb, ictQATAR's Legal and Regulatory Manager, is working to ensure that the relationship between the service provider and customers is beneficial for both. As part of the Regulatory Authority, Meegan recognizes that there are times when competition will drive improvements, and other times where the regulator may need to play a more pro- active role. Webb discussed this topic during a recent presentation she gave at a conference in Dubai addressing telecommunications laws and regulations in the Middle East.

With Qatar's telecoms markets becoming more liberalized, the country will soon experience increasing benefits from competition. "Competition tends to produce increased product differentiation, greater choices, increased efficiency, lower costs, and lower prices. That usually results in benefits for both customers and service providers," says Webb. "Despite the positive outcome of increased competition in markets, we cannot rely on competition alone to ensure benefits are actually passed-on to all customers. There will be some customers that cannot produce high revenue for service providers but are costly to maintain, such as people living in remote areas. Regulatory initiatives can ensure benefits are passed on to all end-users."

While relatively new in the Middle East, consumer protection and fair trading issues are becoming increasingly public and generating a significant amount of attention from industry. People are concerned about their privacy, the use of their information for marketing purposes, the way in which service providers deal with them, and how they can use their power as buyers to obtain a fair deal on the terms and conditions promised. Service providers are starting to realize the value is not only in the network but in the customer. These and other consumer issues are not the sole responsibility of the service provider, Webb clarifies, but rather consumers, the regulator and service providers all play important roles: all have rights and obligations upon them.

For service providers, there are legal obligations to trade fairly. Fair trading involves being honest with customers and not misleading or deceiving customers about what they are being offered or the terms and conditions of an offer including the full price and all charges. Customers should not be pressured to buy and should not be knowingly sold defective, unsuitable or unrequested goods or services. Essentially, service providers must comply with the law and their licenses.

The use and misuse of consumer information by service providers is also a key concern of ictQATAR. The law provides for a customer's right to privacy and places obligations on service providers to protect customer data and communications, keep it accurate and confidential (unless it has obtained customer consent to disclose) and not use it for unauthorized purposes. Service providers will be required by ictQATAR to prepare and publish a Privacy Statement to inform customers about respective rights and obligations and how the customer's privacy will be preserved.

In terms of the obligations of service providers regarding consumer protection, Webb notes that many service related issues arise, such as billing, service installation, connection, disconnection, changes in services or products, the provision of telephone numbers and PIN codes, getting access to a customer premises and guaranteeing a particular quality of service. "It is essential that service providers have an adequate Customer Service Management system. If this is working well, the number of complaints and disputes about services will reduce and consumer protection initiatives will work more effectively," Webb says.

As for the responsibilities of consumers, they need to pro-actively seek information about the service provider and the products and services being offered or purchased, according to Webb "They need to be informed, choose wisely and exercise their rights. Being an informed consumer is both a right and an obligation on a consumer. They should always ask questions prior to purchase, ask for a copy of the terms of purchase and an explanation of any unclear terms. With competition, consumers can demand more from a service provider -not just better services at cheaper prices - but also more efficient ways of paying a bill, resolving a complaint or finding out about how to obtain the services that best suit their needs," she said.

ictQATAR has started a range of initiatives to assist service providers and its customers during the transition to full competition. A major goal of ictQATAR is to encourage more user-friendly standardized contracts, with terms and conditions that are easily understood. The rights and obligations in those agreements have to be fairly balanced on both sides. Webb says consumers would also benefit from having a 'Customer Service Guarantee,' given to a customer by a service provider on purchase; a Privacy Statement explaining how customer information will be obtained, stored and used; an effective complaints and dispute resolution system that can resolve most customer complaints within 30 days; and an effective online payment systems for customers to avoid having to visit retail outlets to pay a bill.

"ictQATAR is committed to developing consumer protection and fair trading guidelines, regulations and initiatives that will benefit the people of Qatar, both consumers and service providers. As the Regulatory Authority, we recognize that there are really three long-term partners, and not just two, who can ensure that consumers are protected, traders deal fairly with customers, and a healthy telecommunications industry develops here in Qatar."

- By: Mina Nagy







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