Muna Nijem's reply to my query

Natasha has pointed out that our ex telecommunications regulator, Muna Nijem, is running for the post of the secretary general of the International Telecommunication Union. She has a web site to advocate her case.

Since everybody is interested in the Umniah case, and she was the head of the TRC at the time the license was issued, I wondered what Ms. Nijem had to say about the controversy. On a suggestion by Natasha, I left a comment on her blog, and she has been kind enough to answer my question.

Much of her reply is really the official line, which states that the opening of the communications market is better for the consumer. The most controversial aspect of the licensing process, in my opinion, was the price paid to the treasury. This became an issue after a similar license was issued in Egypt for a third cell phone operator which paid out licensing fees of almost thee billion dollars. Of course, people realize that the Egyptian market is much larger than the Jordanian one, but the difference between the two deals (1:500) is not close to the ratio between the sizes of the two markets.

Nijem alludes to this by pointing out that the actual revenues of the treasury should be calculated on the life time of the license (15 years), and not simply on the up front licensing fees paid in the beginning. She implies that the Egyptian license is different because the government will not share the revenues of the operator, which is the case with the Umniah license. The government has previously stated that the treasury will collect 240 million dinars over the period of the license. I don’t know if the Egyptian deal is similar or not. Clarification of this point specifically should dispel the doubts that surround this issue.

I would like to wish the best of luck to Nijem, and to thank her for the professional response to the voices of the blogosphere.

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UPDATE: The following comment was left by Ms. Nijem. I thought it should be placed on the main post as well:

I want to thank all of you for taking the time to visit my site and for the show of support. The Umniah licensing is exactly what I stated; clean, pure and simple. It was done by transparent "due process" and with the approval of Council of ministers at every step. I am at your disposal, at a later stage, to hold a meeting w/all who are interested from you to explain things in the minutest details.

I thank you again, and promise all of you that I never compromise on honesty and honor, and I set extremely high standards for honesty and honor for myself. God, the Almighty, is always watching every small deed we do.

You are the future, and I believe in you. I lead by example and pray to God, and with your support that together we will do our utmost to serve humanity at large, to the best of our capabilities. God bless.