Friday 19 / April / 2024
Muscat: A maximum OMR1,000 fine shall be imposed by the Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRA) for public internet service providers if they do not follow new amendments approved by the TRA.
The TRA issued a new decision, No. 48/2016: Issuing Rules Regulating Re-provision of World Wide Web (Internet) Access Service Provision, in which public internet service providers, such as cafes, hotels, airports and internet cafes, are required to save details about users of their internet for up to three months.
The decision, which was issued on June 12, 2016, is an amendment to Decision No. 11/2011: Issuing Rules Regulating the World Wide Web (Internet) access service provision in public places, and Decision No. 118/2011 on the conditions and procedures to grant authorisation to offer access to World Wide Web service (Internet) in public places.
Re-providers of internet service must store users’ data for three months, according to the decision, and will be fined if they do not comply.
According to the decision, Article 2 states, “The re-provider of World Wide Web (Internet) access service in public places shall register the civil or passport number of the user, indicating time and date of usage. Such registers shall be maintained for at least three months”.
Fahad Al Maawali, Assistant IT Manager of Millennium Resort Mussanah, said that the resort’s internet service providers are Ooredoo and Omantel, and they already have information about the hotel’s internet usage,while the resort maintains information about its guests.
“When guests check in, we have their personal information, which also goes to the ROP, so they won’t need to input their personal information to activate internet access; only their room number,” said Al Maawali.
“The decision is mostly applicable to internet cafes. They would have to register the ID number and information of the user,” noted Al Maawali.
When asking an official from Bin Mirza, the agency responsible for Second Cup Café, regarding registering users’ information, she said, “We don’t ask for their IDs, as our service is free. When they connect to our WiFi, they would have to input their phone number to activate it.”
The regulation implies that service providers have their clients’ information stored from prior visits. Backing up his claim, article 3 of the decision states that operators of internet cafes must register users’ civil numbers, as well as the time and date of usage, and maintain such records for at least three years. Regarding the fine, article 4 states: “Without prejudice to any harsher penalty set out in the Telecommunications Regulatory Act of any other law, the authority may, in the event of breaching the provisions of this regulation, suspend internet service until the violation is revoked, or impose a fine not exceeding OMR 1000, or apply both penalties.
In the event of repeating the breach, the authority may double the fine or permanently suspend the internet service, or apply both penalties.
