Independent Telecommunication Regulator: A Priority for the Ministry of Telecommunication in Libya

Eng. Usama Siala, Minister of Communications and Informatics of Libya, talks about the new telecommunication law and independent telecom regulatory authority. According to Siala, the priority of the ministry is to promulgate the new telecom law that would allow for an independent TRA and greater involvement of the private sector in the telecom industry.

“Since we started at the Ministry in the beginning of December, we have established a committee of people from different backgrounds for example legal or technical, of people here in Libya with experience in this sector and also people from foreign law firms, and what we said is this: we need to review the existing telecom law which was made to secure a monopoly for one group of people and we need to ensure that this monopoly can no longer exist. We want to promote the private sector, we want to make sure that this telecom law is up to the international standards and we want to make sure there is an independent regulator because the monopoly from the previous regime was very strange and decisions were being made and licenses given all from the same place. So we have started this process, after 90 days we made the first draft, we shared it with the public during the telecom event of the year in February, we got feedback from the private sector, we reviewed it once more and discussed it with the telecoms committee in the GNC (General National Congress) and we are now at the final stages of putting together the final draft,” recounts Eng. Siala.