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Kuwait – The repeated complaints about problems activating or connecting to landline telephones will come to an end very soon. At its headquarters yesterday, the Ministry of Communication signed two contracts with two private companies for the maintenance of the landline telephone network.

Currently there are four governorates suffering from a shortage of service to their landline telephones because contracts with previous providers had expired; Fahaheel, Mubarak Al-Kabeer, Farwaniya, and Jahara. “We haveresponded to people’s complaints and the Ministry will fix all the problems, said Dr Mohammed Al-Baseeri, Minister of Communication and Minister for Parliament Affairs during the signing ceremony. “The technicians, engineers, and officials of the Ministry did a great job.

The first contract signed between the Ministry of Communication and Kuwait Network Electronic Company is for the maintenance of the landline network. “The existing net is very old and it needs regular maintenance,” Al-Baseeri said. “For the past few months people faced problems as the contract expired. The new contract is for three years and has a value of KD 4,620,700. We hope that the execution period will be short.

The second contract was signed with the TCIL Company. “According to this contract the company will supply the Ministry with spare parts and electronic cables necessary to maintain the landline network. This contract is for one year and has a value of KD 3,219,031,” he added. The landlines will soon be privatized. “The telecommunication issue is one of the ministry’s priorities,” Al-Baseeri stressed. Before this service is transferred to the private sector, users of landline telephones should enjoy perfect
services. We signed these two contacts to provide complete services for the users. Now we don’t have an excuse for not responding to complaints. Within a few weeks the improvements will be noticeable.

According to Al-Baseeri the Ministry is not intending to cut BlackBerry services in Kuwait. “We are in contact with RIM and with all of Saudi Arabia, and the Emirates, to follow up on the solutions provided by RIM to the countries that submitted such demands, such as Lebanon, Algeria, Belgium, UK, the USA and others. We have certain laws and regulation that we have to respect, and all applications have to comply with the law. We appreciate the cooperation of RIM and mobile service providers (Zain, Wataniya, Viva),” he explained.

Al-Baseeri stressed that Kuwait has security and moral commitments on this issue. “The Ministry is responsible for blocking or censoring pornographic sites,” he said. “We corresponded with RIM regarding this issue and they demanded a four months period to fix that. The biggest obstacle is the speed of technological development. Everything changes so fast, today’s solutions may not work tomorrow.

Al-Baseeri expressed his satisfaction with the Kuwait Airways Corporation’s (KAC) situation and performance. “This is the high season for travelling and the KAC is doing well. We will start with the privatization process after Ramadan. The City Group Bank will supervise the procedure. Employees of KAC will have to express their willingness to remain with KAC before August 31 and the Ministry will decide their position after the privatization,” he concluded.

Nawara Fattahova – Kuwait Times