AMMAN — The Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) is expected to initiate a study next month to measure the quality of telecom services in the country, according to its chief commissioner, Mohammad Taani.
TRC hired a specialised company to conduct the study, which will cover 2nd and 3rd generation services, Taani told The Jordan Times in a phone interview on Tuesday.
"The study is important because its findings will enable customers to know the quality of services available in the market and it will also help the TRC in taking some regulatory measures, if they are required," he added.
After the study is completed, which is expected in 12-14 weeks, TRC will discuss its findings with telecom operators and publish the results.
The study will also gauge the percentage of network coverage across the country, Taani said.
In October last year, ICT Minister Azzam Sleit said the level of services provided by telecom operators is unsatisfactory, and that the authorities will start taking measures to force them to enhance quality.
"The quality of telecom services should be improved. We all suffer because of the [bad] quality at present. We do not want free calling minutes when every minute there is a disruption in the call," the minister said at the time.
Sleit also cast doubt over the accuracy of studies conducted by TRC in the past to measure the level of services offered by the three operators in the Kingdom.
Mobile penetration in Jordan reached 155 per cent by the end of September 2013, with 10.227 million subscriptions.
Internet penetration reached 72 per cent at the end of the third quarter last year, with 4.864 million users, according to figures posted on the TRC website.
Internet subscriptions stood at 20.7 per cent with 1.382 million subscribers at the end of September 2013.
The majority, or 1.064 million Internet subscribers, were mobile broadband subscribers, according to the figures.
