The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been chosen to Chair the Arab Spectrum Management Group (ASMG) during the first official ASMG Meeting following the conclusion of the World Radio-communication Conference 2007 (WRC-07) of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
The UAE Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has invited the Arab Ministerial Council for ICT to organize the 11th Meeting of ASMG assigned to prepare for the World Radio-communication Conference 2011 (WRC-11) in Abu Dhabi, from 2 – 5 March 2008. The Ministerial Council welcomed the invitation in its meeting that took place at the Arab League Headquarters in Cairo on 10 January 2008, and urged the Arab countries to heavily participate in this important Meeting.
The Meeting was attended by 120 members representing 17 Arab countries, the Secretariat General of the Arab Ministerial Council for ICT of the Arab League, and the Telecommunications Technical Bureau of the GCC Secretariat General. Bearing in mind that the number of the participant Arab states in this Meeting that is considered the first preliminary meeting, is considered very high in comparison to the same number that participated in the final meeting prior to the WRC-07, and which is considered the most important among all ASMG Meetings because it is the sum-up of a four-year hard work of preparations.
One of the most important subjects discussed in the Meeting was the evaluation of the outcome of the WRC-07, along with discussing the coming WRC-11 agenda and provisions.
During the four-day Meeting, however, the participants discussed the organizational structure of a revived ASMG to deal with the coming phase, where the discussions and negotiations ended up with choosing the UAE to Chair ASMG represented by Eng. Tariq Al-Awadhi, Director of Spectrum Affairs at the UAE-TRA. The Vice-Chairs were also chosen as follows: Mr. Abdullah Al-Mehemeed from Saudi Arabia, Dr. Salalah Al-Wardani from Egypt, Mr. Mustapha Bessi from Morocco, Mr. Abdul Qader Ibrire from Algeria, and Mr. Imad Hubballah from Lebanon.
However, the UAE-TRA has established the ASMG Official Website and released it online on trial basis after acquiring the approval of the participated delegates that is considered a preliminary approval until ratified by the Arab Ministerial Council for ICT of the Arab League.
