US embassy cable - 04AMMAN3429

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 AMMAN 003429 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/04/2009 
TAGS: ECPS, EAID, PGOV, JO 
SUBJECT: A KALEIDOSCOPE OF ARAB ICT ISSUES: EB/CIP DAS 
GROSS VISITS TWO REGIONAL ICT CONFERENCES 
 
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires David Hale, for reasons 1.5 (b) and (d 
) 
 
1. SUMMARY: Earlier this year, Amb. David Gross, U.S. 
Coordinator for Communications and Information Policy, 
attended and gave keynote addresses at annual conferences of 
the Arab Telecommunications Regulatory Network (ATRN) and the 
Arab Regional IT Association (ARAITA).  On the margins of 
these conferences, Gross held bilateral discussions with 
government officials from Jordan and conference delegates 
from Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, Palestinian 
Authority, and Syria, and met with stakeholders directly 
involved in Iraqi telecommunications training.  The following 
cable is submitted for the record.  END SUMMARY. 
 
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Arab Telecommunications Regulators Network 
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2. The 2nd General Assembly of the Arab Telecommunications 
Regulators, Network (ATRN) was held on March 21- 22, 2004 at 
the Dead Sea, Jordan. The ATRN was launched in Amman in 2003, 
with the goal of strengthening and harmonizing 
telecommunications policy across the region.  In his speech 
to 19 member countries of the ATRN, Ambassador Gross stressed 
the importance of regional coordination and of adopting 
technology-neutral policies during the major changes taking 
place in the region's telecommunications regulatory areas. 
The meeting was followed immediately by a professional 
development workshop, designed to highlight key issues and 
share experiences between the Network,s members and 
international regulators.  USG delegates from the FCC, NTIA 
and USAID discussed interconnection, spectrum management and 
universal service. 
 
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ARAITA 
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3. Ambassador Gross addressed the Arab Regional Alliance of 
Information Technology Associations (ARAITA) and stressed the 
importance of creating a public-private sector partnership to 
ensure region-wide market friendly policies.  During their 
two day strategic planning session, the Jordanian, Lebanese, 
Palestinian, Egyptian, and Moroccan IT Associations signed a 
Memorandum of Understanding affirming the associations, 
commitment to collaborate on building the regional 
association.  Each association volunteered to take the lead 
on specific actions that will assist ARAITA in identifying 
regional barriers that inhibit the growth of the IT industry 
in the Middle East. 
 
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Iraq Telecommunications Training 
-------------------------------- 
 
4. Amb. Gross chaired a meeting between the Director of the 
ITU Telecommunications Development Bureau, Hamadoun Toure, a 
representative from the CPA telecom team, and members of 
Iraqi Ministries of Post and Telecom (MOPT) and the Iraq 
Telecommunications Post Company (ITPC). The Iraqi delegates 
expressed their desire to receive training in new 
technologies to which they previously did not have exposure. 
The CPA noted that Bearing Point consultants had recently 
begun to construct a training program for Iraqi 
telecommunications officials and that there might be a role 
for the ITU. Gross suggested that the CPA might see if the 
Bearing Point consultants might be able to work with the ITU 
to avoid a duplication of effort and to coordinate a visit of 
ITU delegates to Baghdad to gauge the current capacity of the 
Iraqi MOPT, the future commissioners of the 
telecommunications regulator, and the ITPC.  Gross noted that 
EB/CIP will continue to work with an interagency group to see 
how best to facilitate training for the MOPT and ITPC. 
 
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Palestinian Authority 
--------------------- 
 
5. As a follow-up to the Palestinian Ministry of 
Communications, EB/CIP-administered Telecommunications 
Leadership Program (TLP) training sessions, the Secretary 
General of the Ministry reported to Amb. Gross that his 
Minister would like to open a dialogue with Israeli officials 
regarding spectrum management.  The Palestinian delegates 
felt that gaining control of their spectrum was key to the 
creation of an independent telecommunications regulator. 
They also noted that in a recent Palestinian-American 
Economic Dialogue, the Palestinian Ministry of National 
Economy had made IT the centerpiece of its discussions. 
Gross emphasized the importance of economic development as 
part of the President's roadmap and reaffirmed his support 
for creation of a dialogue on information society issues. 
 
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Saudi Arabia 
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6. Amb. Gross met with the Deputy Governor for Legal Affairs 
and the Deputy Governor for Organization Policy and Licensing 
of the Saudi Communication and Communications and Information 
Technology Commission (CITC) to discuss Saudi Arabia,s 
upcoming mobile license tender.  In response to the CITC 
comments that no U.S. companies had bid on the recent tender, 
Gross noted that the requirement of GSM technology had 
hindered US companies from creating a consortium to bid on 
the license.  The CITC also encouraged U.S. private sector to 
visit Saudi Arabia to encourage investment.  EB/CIP has 
followed up since this meeting and is working with Embassy 
Riyadh to extend an invitation to the General Manager of the 
CITC to attend licensing training at USTTI. 
 
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Morocco 
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7. Amb. Gross met with the new Moroccan Telecommunications 
Director General, who is restructuring the telecommunication 
policy and regulatory framework of Morocco to increase the 
attractiveness of the telecommunications sector for private 
investment, especially from foreign sources.  The Director 
General explained to Gross that he hoped to use the possible 
issuance of an upcoming cellular license as the first major 
U.S. investment under the recently concluded U.S.-Moroccan 
FTA.  Gross noted the importance of fashioning flexible 
regulations allowing for the possible use of new 
technologies, such as wireless local loop, WiFi and VOIP. 
 
 
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Kuwait 
------ 
 
8. In a meeting with four senior Kuwaiti Ministry of 
Telecommunications officials, Amb. Gross addressed AT&T,s 
concern that Kuwait was planning to terminate the 
international circuits that connect Camp Doha to the United 
States.  Mustafa Hashem, Director of International Relations 
for the Kuwaiti Ministry of Telecommunications, stated that 
he did not know about this problem and requested that further 
information be sent to him and to Deputy Telecommunications 
Minister Khajah.  Hashem assured Gross that no circuits would 
be terminated and that he would work to have the issue 
resolved.  Gross emphasized that the U.S. government's 
position was that both sides should talk and resolve the 
issue in such a way that service could continue for the 
troops. In addition, the Kuwaiti officials requested U.S. 
technical assistance in furthering Kuwait's 
telecommunications reforms. 
 
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Jordan 
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9. (SBU) In a meeting with Jordan Telecommunications 
Regulatory Commission (TRC) CEO Muna Nijem, Amb. Gross 
expressed his concern that the TRC was acting too intrusively 
in its licensing evaluations.  Nijem also discussed her 
recent struggles with Parliament in maintaining the 
independence of the TRC.   (In response to this concern, 
Gross later met with members of the Public Services Committee 
of the Jordanian Parliament to discuss the importance of an 
independent telecommunications regulator.) 
 
10. (C) During a separate meeting, Jordanian Minister of 
Information and Communications Technology Dr. Fawaz Al-Zou'bi 
noted that although the Jordanian liberalization process 
still does not enjoy popular support, he and the King were 
committed to continuing to support the TRC.  Zou'bi touched 
on his vision for Jordan's IT industry, saying that once IPR 
problems had been resolved, IT in Jordan has the potential to 
become a $1 billion industry.  Gross noted that a strong, 
independent telecommunications regulator is a key enticement 
for IT-sector investment.  Finally, Zou'bi requested Gross's 
support in convincing the Iraq government to request a 
connection to the Haifa submarine cable.  He stated that such 
a connection would reduce the costs of bandwidth both to Iraq 
and Jordan.  Zou'bi stated that connecting Jordan to the 
Haifa port would not be politically feasible unless the 
request came from Baghdad. 
 
11. Jordanian Minister of Education Dr. Khalid Toukan briefed 
Amb. Gross on the critical role of USAID support in funding 
the Jordan Education Initiative (JEI), the Jordanian 
government,s program to computerize and connect Jordan,s 
school and university systems.  According to Toukan, the JEI 
has had substantial, positive knock-on effects for Jordan, 
spurring both the development of a strong e-learning software 
production industry in Jordan and the changeover of Jordan,s 
primary school curriculum from lessons relying on rote 
memorization to a program focusing on creative thinking. 
 
12. In a subsequent meeting, Jordanian Minister of Planning 
Dr. Bassem Awadallah echoed Toukan,s praise of the U.S. role 
in the JEI and noted that the straitened circumstances of the 
Jordanian budget dictated that programs like the JEI, 
requiring substantial up-front capital expenditure, rely on 
specifically earmarked foreign grants for their funding. 
Awadallah praised the roles of private U.S. corporations in 
&putting their money where their mouth is8 by supporting 
the JEI. 
 
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Comment 
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13. (SBU) The variety of issues addressed by Amb. Gross 
during his three-day stay in Jordan give some indication of 
the pace of the liberalization of ICT sectors in the Arab 
World and the scope of the challenges that the sector faces 
here. The tenor of the meetings also gave some indication of 
the integral role that U.S. assistance and advocacy in these 
sectors are playing in the promotion of broader U.S. 
interests in the region.  At a time when Arab discontent with 
U.S. policies is high, Gross, meetings were relatively free 
of political posturing ) all parties tended to focus on 
achievable, relationship-building cooperative measures. 
HALE