The Government of Jordan is committed to modernising and liberalising its telecommunications sector in keeping with the country's vision of becoming the hub of the new Middle East. As part of this process, new laws have been introduced to encourage private sector investment in all sectors, including a Telecommunications law, which establishes a Telecommunications Policy Division & Telecommunications Regulatory Office.

The mission statement of the Ministry of Post and Communication is:

"To set policies that organise the telecommunications sector & to provide all advanced postal services to all citizens & customers in the Kingdom with optimum security, best quality, fastest ways & minimum cost with continuous enhancement & updating of these services in order to cope with recent technological and dynamic changes in the world".

The Ministry shall undertake the following tasks and duties:

• To prepare the general policy of the telecommunications sector in the Kingdom and to submit the same to the Council of Ministers for approval. To seek to develop such policy for the purpose of expanding the spread of telecommunications networks in such a way as to meet the requirements of economic and social development.
• To draw up plans that help encourage investment in the telecommunications sector in the Kingdom and create an atmosphere of competition among those who offer such services with a view to guaranteeing the providing of developed telecommunications services at acceptable cost and agreeable rates.
• To follow up the implementation by the involved departments of the Kingdom’s international contractual commitments in the telecommunications sector.
• To look after the Kingdom’s interests in such countries, regional and international organisations, specific unions and commissions as are concerned with telecommunications affairs and to supervise, in co-operation with the Commission and the ministries and departments concerned, the representation of the Kingdom before those parties.
• To prepare the telecommunications regulatory draft laws and regulations and to submit the same to the Council of Ministers.

A cabinet reshuffle took place in early September, the first since last March when PM Mr. Abdur-Ra'uf Rawabdeh took on his governmental duties. Mr. Mohammed Jum'a Al Wahesh, ex-General Secretary of the Civil Service Commission, is the new Minister of Social Development and Mr. Saeed Shuqum, the former President of Al Ahli Sports Club, is the new Minister of Youth and Sports. Former Minister of Social Affairs Mr. Faisal Al Rifou' was re-appointed as Minister of Culture. The Deputy PM Mr. Ayman Al Majali becomes the Minister of Information (in addition to his other duties) and Mr. Nasser Al Lawzi was appointed as the Minister of Transport. The ministry of Culture was split from the Ministry of Information and the Ministry of Transport was split from the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications, thus raising the Jordanian Ministries to the number of 24. (see Appendix Organisational chart of the ministries ).

The national regulatory authority in Jordan is the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC).

TRC was established in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan according to the Telecommunications Law No. (13) for 1995. The issuance of this law came as a fundamental result of the Telecommunications Sector Reform Program. Since the effective date of this law, TRC, represented by it's Board of Directors, Director General and executive body, became in charge of all aspects in relation to regulating the telecommunications sector, issuing of licenses or permits for the operation of telecommunications networks or the usage of frequencies, and determining the specifications of telecommunications sets as well as issuing approvals for its importing.

Through its mission, TRC seeks to regulate the telecommunications sector and to maintain a successful work relationship between the government, subscribers, service providers and suppliers in order to achieve an effective growth of reliable telecommunication services in Jordan. TRC gives equal opportunities to all those wishing to obtain the licenses and to submit their integrated proposals based on their undertaking to provide the service to all those wishing to obtain it, in addition to their commitment to fair and legal competition with other licenses.

By 1 May 1999, most of TRC Technical Standards were reviewed to ensure that they are consistent with the requirements of the International Telecommunications Technical Standards. The process by which the TRC Technical Standards will be made, takes into account the industry self regulation arrangements, ITU standards and international technical specifications.

All TRC Technical Standards are available at:

• Completed application package is submitted for evaluation.
• Once the application package has been reviewed and determined to be acceptable a testing date will be set.
• Performance testing of the product to ensure compatibility with the network.
• The Test report is assembled and the certificate of compliance is completed and sent to customer.
• Equipment samples will be submitted for Safety, EMC and other telecommunications testing.
• Upon satisfactory completion of all the testing levels the TRC will issue the appropriate approval.

It usually takes maximum of 14 days from submitting the full application package for approval of products to be granted.

1. To regulate the telecommunications sector in a balanced way, in order to provide services of high quality and competitive prices through the licensing and monitoring of these services.
2. To secure the kingdom's needs of different telecommunications services with the highest levels of performance and acceptable prices, and to continue in the process of privatisation as well as the introduction of competition.
3. To support and safeguard licensees' abilities to achieve their basic objectives on a bases of non-discrimination.
4. To secure the continuation of the services provided to the customers of the licensees.
5. To create the appropriate investment climate for the licensees through safeguarding their interests and the regulation of relations and specialities among them, and protecting them from unlicensed companies.
6. To open the way for competition in the Jordanian telecommunication sector, to serve the customer all over the kingdom.

The Telecommunications Law of 1995 mandates that private sector users of Satellite-Borne Electro-Magnetic Frequencies of less than 3,000 Giga Hertz must obtain a license for such use. This mandate excludes certain frequencies generated from electrical appliances, T.V./Radio equipment and wireless communications equipment licensed by the TRC.

The Frequency Management Department of TRC is responsible for the regulating and supervision of frequency usage in Jordan in accordance with the international and regional agreements, the Telecommunications Act, and the Board of Directors' decisions, as well as the participation in the Frequencies Management Consultative Committee.

Furthermore, the importation and use of sea or air-borne radio-wave equipment is prohibited unless licensed by the TRC. Military and diplomatic missions are exempted from the license requirement on a reciprocity basis.

The Telecommunications Regulatory Office is charged with providing a transparent regulatory framework, independent of the operators, thus permitting a fair and effective competitive environment. The Telecommunications Regulatory Office is responsible for licensing companies wishing to provide telecommunications services, enforcing licensing, regulating prices, ensuring interconnection to promote the development of competitive and new services, and setting technical standards.

The "Frequency Management Consultative Committee" whose objective is to advise the Council on the licensed use of frequencies inside Jordan. The Frequencies Management Consultative Committee is member of the Frequency Management Department. The "Planning Committee" is member of the Technical & Licensing Affairs Department.

Jordan Telecommunications Company (JTC) is currently the sole provider and operator of the basic telephone services within Jordan with a monopoly for both business and residential telephone services offering local, national and international services. JTC is a signatory of the Arabsat and Intelsat satellite consortia and operates three satellite earth stations.

JTC commenced operations as of Jan. 1, 1997 with a J.D 250 Million Capi. The proposed mission statement for JTC was formulated which stipulates the following:

"To be the leading network operator in Jordan, providing efficient, cost effective, high quality telecommunications and related services, which meet the needs of all our customers. Also to generate viable returns for the business, secure our competitive position and meet all our license obligations to support the economic and social development of the Kingdom".

The government is keen to sell to a consortium led by a global technical partner in order to modernise JTC and enhance the telecommunications infrastructure in the country. The success of the telecommunications sale is a key part of IMF-directed structural reforms and is seen critical to boost Jordan's credibility among foreign investors.

On the last week of November 1999 Jordan opened negotiations with France Telecom on the sale of a 40 percent stake in Jordan Telecommunications Company (JTC). Deputy Prime Minister Ayman al-Majali, said that a government decision was taken to initiate a dialogue with a France Telecom-led consortium, one of three international bidders which had expressed readiness to purchase the government's stake in JTC.

The Jordanian government announced (on 29 of November 1999) that the Jordan Telecom's 40% acquisition by a consortium led by France Telecom (FT) has been agreed in principle. The final agreement (due to be signed in 20 December 1999) was put off until after the Eid al-Fitr Moslem holiday in the second week of January.

The construction, already started at the end of 1999, of two 10-kilometer fiber optic cables linking Israel and Jordan mark the first regional telecommunications project between Israel and any of its Arab neighbors. The resumption of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority following the May election of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak has led to a warming up of economic ties between the two countries. The agreement between Tel Aviv-based Bezeq International Ltd. (a wholly owned subsidiary of Bezeq Telecom) and Amman-based Jordan Telecommunications Company (JTC), was announced on September 1999 in Amman during a visit by Israeli communications minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer. The links, which cost a total of $3.5 million and are due to be operational from February 2000, are expected to result in greater competition in both countries.

The fiber optic cables, with a total capacity of 10 gigabits, will link the countries at two locations: at either the Allenby or Sheikh Hussein bridge border crossings; and at the southern border between the two countries at the towns of Aqaba, Jordan and Eilat, Israel. At present all communications between Israel and Jordan are through microwave links. Initially, the two cables will handle the traffic between Israel and the Palestinian Authority to Jordan. Voice traffic between Israel and the Palestinian Authority and Jordan ranks fourth in terms of the number of call minutes for both Bezeq International and JTC.

Data traffic is currently insignificant, but this is likely to change according to the two operators. The new fiber optic links between Israel and Jordan are expected to handle voice primarily, but Bezeq International hopes that JTC will opt to use the cables for Internet services, creating additional traffic, because Israel has a better connection to the IP backbone than Jordan.

The American Education Corporation (AEC) announced that its Learning Pathways, Ltd. (LPL), Derby, U.K. division has entered into an letter of intent to license AEC's software technology to Educational Solutions, Ltd. (ESL) of London, U.K. and its Jordan-based subsidiary EduSol-Jordan.

Under terms of the letter of intent, ESL will have access to AEC's A+dvanced Learning System® authorable, software engine technology, proprietary K-12 content and related development tools to develop an Arabic-language version of the Company's A+dvanced Learning System version 2.14 software technology. The terms of the letter of intent call for ESL to make a series of fixed, annual license fee payments to the Company of a total of approximately $1,700,000. The payments commence June 30, 2000 and end June 30, 2003.

ESL will have the exclusive worldwide rights to market the resulting Arabic-language products to the Arabic-speaking world and will have limited rights to market the English-language version. ESL is owned by United Investment Group, a general trading and publishing concern based in Amman, Jordan. The announced yearly turnover of the group's business activities in Jordan is $40 million. The management of both LPL and ESL really view this relationship a long-term partnership to extend AEC's world-class software, instructional design models to the Arabic countries.

Jordan and Sudan signed on Thursday 30^th of March 2000 several bilateral agreements and executive programmes which aim to foster cooperation.

Prime Minister Abdur-Ra’uf S. Rawabdeh and Sudanese Vice President Ali Othman Taha signed the minutes of meetings of the Jordanian-Sudanese Higher Committee which included eight bilateral accords and three executive programmes.

In a joint statement, released after the committee concluded its meetings, Rawabdeh and Othman "expressed both governments’ keeness to enhance bilateral cooperation between the two countries".

The agreements fall in the areas of promoting and protecting investment, international land transportation, media cooperation, double taxation and tax evasion, culture, agriculture, tourism and health.

According to the minutes, Jordan will help Sudan, through technical assistance and training programs to enter the World Trade Organisation.

Finally, Sudan has expressed hope "to benefit from Jordan’s expertise in establishing a Sudanese national data base and training Sudanese civil servants in the specialized institutions", said the statement.

Jordanian telecommunications commenced during the early 1930 in Trans-Jordan under the supervision of the Post and Telegraph Department. Cable and Wireless Ltd. assisted in the development of telecommunications services through their involvement in developing international connections. After the founding of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (Jordan) the Ministry of Posts, Telegraph and Telephone was established which further developed telecommunications services. In 1961 the first automatic telephone services were introduced utilising an electro-mechanical switch with a capacity of approximately 5,000 lines. Further exchanges were constructed to supplement the system. In 1966 the association with Cable and Wireless Ltd. was terminated and the Ministry of Posts, Telegraph and Telephony assumed responsibility for the system.

By 1971, which saw the formalisation of the Telecommunications Corporation (TCC) as a Government-controlled entity under the 1971 Law, Jordan was served by various telecommunications services such as telephone, telegraph and telex and was operating a satellite earth station which was using Intelsat facilities.

From 1973 to 1985, the system was expanded significantly under three successive government investment plans in response to increasing demand, which arose, both from the need to develop from a limited base and from general economic development in Jordan.

Between 1987 and 1992 Jordan suffered a recession and this affected the ability of obtaining Government funding to renovate and develop the telecommunications system which was then starting to come under severe pressure as a result of increasing demand. This pressure was exacerbated by the further demand for telephone services following the return of Jordanian expatriates during the Gulf crisis in 1990/91.

A fourth significant development program had already been deferred due to the difficult economic environment preceding the onset of that recession. It was not until 1993 that the Government was able to initiate a further development program which has evolved into the National Telecommunications Program, which is now under implementation and it will increase the penetration ratio from 7.8 to 12 lines per 100 inhabitants.

Parliament passed in 1995 the new telecommunications law allowing the private sector to build and operate private data, voice and image networks and to invest in telecommunications in Jordan.

The law establishes the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC). It allows government ministers, departments and public agencies to build and operate their own telecommunications networks (TN's) and allows the private sector to build and operate TN's without a permit or license if the network is intended for in-house use. In addition to issuing all licensing regulations governing private sector operations, the TSRC will issue labelling requirements for all imported telecommunications equipment. The law establishes the Telecommunications Corporation (TCC) as a public shareholding company whose share will be fully owned by the GOJ for the near future.

The regulatory office is in the process of preparing the terms & conditions for competition for the above services and it will be floated in due time, which is expected to start with the second paging license within few months.

It is clear that the current level of demand and the growing market potential for new telecommunications services indicate that there is a substantial community of potential subscriber that would quickly translate into sizeable revenues. As a result, and based on the experience of the companies that have already established paging and cellular phone services in Jordan, the return on investment is expected to be very attractive.

At the end of October 1999, the committee, headed by Minister of Information Mr. Ayman Majali, (responsible for the reconstruction of the Ministry of Information and the media institutions) discussed the future of state-owned institutions and the possible transition process to independent commercial entities. The committee's focused on introducing a solution to end the government's monopoly on media institutions (like the Jordan Radio and Television and the official news agency, Petra) and replace it with a board grouping private and public sector ownership.

The committee appointed a team to complete the study of the laws and regulations that govern the Ministry of Information and its institutions. The ten-member committee will propose a new strategy and recommend appropriate legislation change to the government for the restructure of the public media institutions. Members of the committee are: Mr. Majali, Minister of Information, Mr. Abdul Salam Abaddi, former Minister of Information, Mr. Mahmoud Sherif and other officials from media institutions.

The Telecommunications Law No. (13) for 1995 allows government ministers, departments and public agencies to build and operate their own TN's without a license. The Council of Ministers is empowered to exempt any entity from the licensing requirement. The law allows the private sector to build and operate TN's without obtaining a permit or license if these networks are intended for in-house use. However, the TRC must approve linking such in-house networks to the public network. Also, the TRC must approve in writing any connection between private sector networks. Private sector operators licensed to provide TN services are required to obtain a "Public TN License" from TRC in order to connect private networks to each other.

Following are some of the major achievements, of TRC, for 1998:

1. Licensing of one new data communication service operator, namely, JCNS.
2. Setting the draft of trunking license agreement as a step in the licensing process of two trunking service operators whom will win the tender to be issued in this regard.
3. Finalising the new license agreement of data communication service, which shall replace the old license agreement.
4. Preparing several drafts of JTC license agreement in order to reach a final draft to be signed between TRC and JTC.
5. Holding special workshops to discuss various aspects in relation to the different telecommunication services such as pay phone, data and trunking.
6. Setting the final draft of the numbering plan. In addition to, assigning new numbering capacities for some companies, namely, NGC, JRP and Fastlink
7. Setting the procedures of receiving, inspecting and issuing type-approvals for imported sets. In addition to, determining the technical specifications for Caller ID sets.
8. Co-ordinating with the concerned administrations to protect the Kingdom's right against any effects on its earth or satellite networks.
9. Following up and studying ITU publications such as: Notifications, Operational Bulletins, Notices, as well as the Radio Communications Study Groups.
10. Issuing and renewing frequency licenses and conducting several field inspections on governmental and private radio stations.
11. Inspecting unlicensed long-rang cordless phones, and confiscating PC's, as well as electronic cards owned by three unlicensed companies that deal with exchange-rate services.
12. Issuing several type-approval permits for the purpose of importing terminal telecommunications sets.

(see Appendix  Licences issued from TRC)

Specific tariff changes (JTC) have been examined with the underlying principle being to rebalance the tariff structure in accordance with service cost factors.

The new tariff structure will result in a significant reduction in call charges for most customers. In particular, international charges and short duration local & national call charges will be significantly reduced. Some increases will, however, be inevitable if charges are to be brought in line with costs. This will be reflected mainly in the long duration local and national calls.

During this same period, JTC's tariffs will be re-balanced and/or restructured to ensure that prices to end users, and interconnection charges to other service providers, are fair and reflect economic costs and efficiencies.

The Jordan Mobile Telephone Services, Fastlink, described as "promising" the firm's ongoing talks with the government (Jordan Telecommunications Company and the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission) on decreasing the cost of cellular calls. Talks between the two sides ended (December 1999), and the Jordan Mobile Telephone Services (Fastlink) will decrease its rates by 10-25 percent starting from 1 January 2000. Fastlink will also decrease prices of subscriptions to JD 15 as well as prices of the operating systems.

A comprehensive change program to be implemented within the next two years will largely achieve the improvements in productivity and customer service. This will involve a complete overhaul of systems and processes. In turn this will require investment in new systems - notably customer service and billing - and the re-engineering of key processes to eliminate non-value added activities. The organisation will be refocused and restructured to be customer facing and to minimise hand-offs. Field teams will be trained to develop multiskills and re-equipped to enable them to do the job efficiently and effectively. In all, 77 projects have been identified covering human resources and training, field and centre operations, quality, systems, finance and organisation.

Improvements in service quality will contribute to higher customer satisfaction and to the achievement of incremental sales. It is also proposed to boost the sales and marketing efforts with more aggressive sales forces and campaigns built around a fuller understanding of customer needs. Key customer segments will be targeted and will include some 30,000 business and wealthier households, which currently account for some two thirds of collection revenue. New services will be added, with the immediate priority of developing modern data services. In the medium and longer term JTC will look to other areas, such as mobile telephony and customer premises equipment, to further enhance service and revenue streams.

The second phase of the National Telecommunications Program (NTP), scheduled for the period 1999 to 2010, will continue with the development and expansion of the telecommunications services. This phase is composed of the following major projects:

• Replacement of existing analogue exchanges with digital ones.
• Replacement of existing digital exchanges at the end of their economic life.
• Expansion of the basic telecommunications network to reach a capacity of more than 1.350 million lines through the provision of new network exchanges.
• Installation of a regional optical fiber transmission links to connect Jordan with the neighbouring countries Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Palestinian Authority and Israel.

The ISO 9000 certificates have a great influence on Jordan's economy. Experts consider the International Standards Organisation (ISO) certificates as par for quality that any business and industry should apply for and achieve. In Jordan, ISO 9000 certificates play a key-role in developing efficiency and quality of Jordan's industry. Many believe that implementing and consolidating ISO systems in Jordan will make the country more legible to the rules and legislation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

A study of 81 industrial companies in Jordan was recently carried out to see the readiness of these companies to apply for ISO certificates. The study, which was supervised by the Arab Engineering and Management Experts Corp., focused on six main industries: Food manufacturing, textiles, medical industries, mineral industries, chemical industries and services. Experts in the study, pointed out that ISO 9000 certificates provide stable and confident steps towards perfection in industry. So far, only 35 companies in Jordan were granted the ISO 9000, representing only one-sixth of the total companies in the Kingdom. Experts suggested that most of the industrial companies in the country have improved their working procedures and mechanisms only to obtain fame and good exporting lines.

The study noted that the ISO 9000 influenced Jordanian industry at large. Such an influence was apparent in different aspects, including the improvement of working procedures, organising business and declining costs. Experts recommended in their study that all companies should implement computerised programs and work mechanisms to increase the efficiency and quality of their businesses. They also urged public departments in the Kingdom to ease the financial burdens on industrial companies and to form national evaluation systems that would help these companies to apply for ISO certificates. The study concluded by saying that any successful industry requires joint co-operation and co-ordination between the government and the private sector to exert and stimulate their influence on the economic growth in Jordan.

From the beginning of 1998 Jordan is connected with Saudi Arabia through fiber optics and with Egypt through microwave links using SDH technology. In addition to that Jordan links with Syria and Israel are upgraded. Jordan will have an additional option for handling the traffic to Europe and the United States via the Med-1 cable. The $80-million Med-1 cable, which links Israel to Cyprus and Italy, began operating in March 1999 and has a capacity of 20 gigabits.

As a result of all these connections (see also 3.1 Jordan and Israel co-operation on cable link) and upgrading Jordan networks with it’s neighbours, Jordan will be the international hub of the Middle East.

The Copyright Law No.22 of 1992 affords protection to original works in literature, arts and science irrespective of the type, importance or purpose of such work. Works encompassed by such protection include, inter alia, books and booklets, oral works, musical compositions, audio and visual works, sculptures, maps, three-dimensional works and software programs.

The author is the person in whose name the work is published as well as the translator of any work, the performer and authors of encyclopedias and anthologies. The pecuniary rights afforded to an author consist of the right of publication of the work, its reproduction, translation and public broadcasting. However, any such rights are afforded after the deposit of two copies of the work to be protected with the National Library.

The Telecommunications Law of 1995, Chapter XII – Concluding Provisions provides privacy, data protection, consumer protection.

The Consumer Affairs Department of TRC is responsible for safeguarding the interests of those who make use of telecommunications services through receiving and following-up complaints and analysing annual reports of the licensees, monitoring prices of services, and promoting public awareness to the importance of telecommunications facilities.

According to articles published in the Jordanian press these last months, electronic government (e-government) is one of the key words that are used by governmental sources recently. An ambitious plan is being prepared according to the same sources.

During the IT Forum at the Dead Sea, which took place in the 24^th and 25^th of March 2000 it was announced that the government is expected to prepare a study detailing the number of personal computers available in all its departments. The government plans to legalise the pirated software it is currently using and negotiate an agreement with a leading software company to obtain consultancy on how properly utilising available programs. It also plans to set up a messaging system connecting all government departments to ease the administration and be able to access and share information with the mere click of a mouse.

Jordan adopts a long-standing policy of human resources development through its social sectors, at the top of which is the Ministry of Education, which is responsible for achieving the general objectives of education, and supervising the educational organisations in Jordan. The Education Act. No. (3), 1994, included several developmental aspects, the most significant of which are: the philosophy, bases and general objectives of education, educational policy principles, the Ministry tasks, as well as educational cycles and their objectives.

The Ministry of Education makes efforts to encourage the private sector to invest in education through the establishment of different educational institutions and organisations. A number of community colleges were established by the private sector based on general and special accreditation criteria set down by the Ministry of Higher Education according to the Higher Education Act No. 28 of 1985. The Ministry approves the curricula, study plans, holidays, fees and admission conditions set down by the Council of Higher Education. In the school year 1997-1998, the number of community colleges (public & private) amounted to (45). Currently, Al-Balqa Applied University is responsible for supervising them. The number of private universities in Jordan for the academic year 1997/1998, amounted to nine, and three university colleges, in which (32.285) students are enrolled.

In light of the Ministry’s efforts to utilize educational technologies efficiently as an element of the Curriculum, the Ministry developed the facilities related to them in an attempt to cope with technological development. During the implementation of the educational development plan up to the school year 1997/1998, the following accomplishments in the field of educational technologies have been achieved:

• Provision of (68%) of the targeted schools with educational computer labs.
• Provision of (52%) of the schools with specialised scientific labs.
• Provision of the Ministry schools with (17064) instructional equipment (audio & video), and (6400) computers.
• Production of (125),(400), and (24) T.V, broadcast and computer programs respectively.
• Production of (52500) lab equipment and (15) teaching kits.
• Provision of special halls to about (40%) of school libraries.
• Introduction of ten learning resource centres distributed all over the governorates, which offer services to teachers, students and community, through utilising new educational technologies into the educational process.

A project for computerising the Ministry has been prepared. It includes the establishment of an administrative educational information network, for the purpose of linking the Ministry (centre) to the general directorates and field directorates of education, utilising computer as a teaching aid, as well as activating the role of learning resource centres and pioneer centres. The MOE has prepared a plan, which is expected to be completed within the next five years, if the financing obstacles are overcome. This plan aims at linking the computer centre, three field directorates of education, (100) schools, and learning resource centres in the field, with the Internet.

During the IT Forum at the Dead Sea, which took place in the 24^th and 25^th of March 2000, an overview of the achievements effectuated during 1999 has been reported by the Minister of Education, Mr. Ezzeddin Jaradat. According to the Minister during 1999:

• 67 educational software packages for science and Arabic language courses have been reformed
• 101 schools have been provided by 692 advanced PCs
• 60 trainees have been trained in the field of computer science and producing up to 40 new educational software packages
• 378 librarians have been trained in the field of library computerization
• the general exam of Tawjihi has been computerized
• a project of ‘computer literacy’ for the employees of the Ministry of Education has been launched
• the Internet service into the Ministry has been supported.

The Minister added that the educational reform, announced by King Abbdallah, will be completed within three years (2000-2003), will provide schools with 18,000 PCs and will have an estimated cost of 23,1 millions dollars. The reform includes the teaching of English from the first grade and the teaching of computers from the second grade in all private and public shcools.

In Jordan, an international telemedicine link has been established between Jordan and the United States' Mayo Clinic's locations in Minnesota, Florida and Arizona. Through the INTELSAT satellite at 338.5 o E, the link brings together physicians and patients nearly 7,000 miles apart, facilitating the exchange of high quality medical care and medical education in Jordan. King Hussein Medical Centre and the Amman Surgical Hospital, located several kilometres apart are now linked to the Mayo Clinic. Both centres are equipped with videoconferencing capabilities for telemedical diagnosis and treatment as well as tele-education programs. In addition to the expanded diagnostic and treatment services, telemedicine often serves as a first-step in determining whether travel is necessary for specialised care.

The facilities allow physicians at each location to consult with one another and obtain second opinions for Jordanian patients. Interactive medical education programs are broadcast from the Mayo Clinic and received at the King Hussein Medical Centre auditorium. These programs, designed specifically to meet the needs of Jordanian physicians, include live lectures by Mayo staff and question and answer sessions. The advanced equipment located in the Jordanian telemedicine rooms includes television monitors, a video camera mounted above the patient examination table, and special equipment that allows Mayo physicians to conduct long-distance patient evaluations.

The video signal can originate from either of the two Jordanian healthcare facilities which share an 11-metre earth station, the Hashim Standard B, which is located at the King Hussein Medical Centre. Transmissions from the Amman Surgical Hospital are sent to the Hashim earth station by microwave, where a videoconferencing link transmits the signal via the INTELSAT satellite at 338.5 o E to the Washington International Teleport. A domestic link then transmits the signal to Mayo Clinic's three sites. The Hashim earth station which was built specifically for telemedicine purposes will also be used eventually to transmit telemedical links from several other Jordanian hospitals to the Mayo Clinic.

Medical professionals, telecommunication engineers and two major hospitals founded Heartbeat Jordan Ltd. in 1997 in Amman, Jordan. Its mission statement is precise and focused:

"To combine highly trained medical providers with state-of the-art telecommunications technology and deliver quality healthcare beyond all boundaries".

The Heartbeat Centre in Amman was set up to address this very problem by utilising a state-of-the-art Telemedical solution. The Heartbeat centre is an established medical ground station for the transmission of medical data in general and specifically electrocardiograms (EKG/heart images). With the use of Heartbeat portable medical terminals, vital medical data can be sent through any telephone, cellular phone, air phone, or HF/CB radio to our medical ground station from anywhere in the world. The medical data and in particularly the electrocardiograms are then analysed by qualified specialists, evaluated and appropriate professional advice is given.

Currently they are servicing the Kingdom by providing this state of the art medical service to mainly primary physicians, corporations, cardiologists, internists, clinics, hospitals and individuals. Heartbeat Jordan's primary objective is to assess healthcare needs in all market segments on a local, regional and global level. Once these healthcare shortcomings are identified, Heartbeat develops solutions utilising the telecommunication medium to optimise healthcare delivery.

The Heartbeat Centre begins each project by carefully assessing the healthcare needs of the target segment. Bringing together a think tank of experts does this. This brainstorming unit recommends solutions that are debated with the target sector and evaluated. The whole process is documented, marketed and implemented. As a result of this scientific approach to executing their mission statement, Heartbeat Jordan Ltd. has effectively promoted telemedicine in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, in the Middle East and World Wide.

An agreement has been signed with the Royal Medical Services (Army) to set up an independent Tele-EKG Center in the CCU/ICU of the Queen Alia Heart Institute at the King Hussein Medical Center. This receiving station will link Rural RMS hospitals, Rural RMS clinics, Military units with the Queen Alia Heart Institute for real time consultation utilizing both verbal and data transfer. This effectively and more importantly inexpensively places one cardiologist from the Queen Alia Heart Institute in 60 remote areas in the kingdom contemporaneously cutting the symptom to needle time for patients of these remote areas that are serviced by the RMS.

Another project is the "Heartbeat in the sky" which offers a comprehensive in-flight medical program consisting of:

• Heartbeat's Comprehensive Medical Kit.
• Training of crewmembers.
• Ground Station consultation for all cardiac & non-cardiac in flight medical emergencies.

After 6-month comprehensive testing on 50 airborne Royal Jordanian flights, Heartbeat Jordan is poised to launch the service on the Jordanian national carrier. This will make Royal Jordanian one of the first commercial airlines to have this pioneering telemedical application.

The Prime Minister Abdel Raouf Rawabdeh appointed Mr Abdallah Touqan as the new Minister of Telecommunications. Before his assignment, Touqan served as scientific advisor to His Majesty King Abdallah. Experts believe that Rawabdeh's choice of Touqan aims to ensure a more diligent policy of monitoring the telecommunications sector in the Kingdom. Touqan stated that JTC must preserve its commitments towards clients and accelerate the implementation of future plans as designated. He expressed hope that by the end of this year Jordanians will have new services as provided by the JTC, including the new mobile telephone and Internet services.

The government has lifted the requirement for Internet Cafes to be licensed, in a move designed to stimulate greater investment in Internet access in Jordan. Entrepreneurs had previously complained about the complicated and time-consuming licensing procedure, administered by the Press and Publications Department (PPD), with applications often taking over a month to process. 50 applications a month have been put before the PPD on average over the last year.

Jordanians are becoming more aware of intellectual property rights. In a seminar held in February, officials from the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) said that the main objective behind implementing the property laws in Jordan is to protect the rights of producers and help people to attain best quality products. The seminar was held at the University of Jordan (UJ), in co-operation with WIPO and the National Library. Experts and academics from Jordan and abroad took part in the event.

Sharif Sa'adallah, Director of the Arab Bureau for Development and WIPO's representative to the seminar, told participants that intellectual property laws help to assert economic creativity in the Arab world. He said that such laws would assist Arab governments to promote lawful commercial exchange in line with principles of protecting intellectual property in fields such as economic, cultural and social development.

On the other hand, UJ's President Walid Maani said that Jordan has achieved progress in the field of intellectual property rights when it was admitted to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) last December. Al Maani pointed out that the University of Jordan plans to introduce next year a new Master of Arts degree program in the field of intellectual property at the Faculty of Law. Sources at the Ministry of Trade and Industry said that Jordan would implement the new Patents and Inventions in April soon after Parliament ratifies the WTO agreement.

France Telecom announced it acquired a 40-percent stake in Jordanian Telecom Company in a deal valued at $508 million. The transaction is part of a privatisation process initiated by Jordan's government in 1997. France Telecom will be responsible for management and operations of JTC and its wireless unit MobilCom and will contribute expertise in the development, management and operation of telecom networks.

The services will be provided through a five-year renewable management contract between JTC and France Telecom. JTC currently has 600,000 lines installed and a penetration rate of 12 percent, giving the company substantial growth potential, according to France Telecom. JTC's mobile telephone service will begin rollout in September.

MobileCom signs $35 million deal with Ericsson

MobileCom signed a memorandum of understanding worth $35 million with leading GSM infrastructure manufacturer and supplier Ericsson, earlier this month. MobileCom is the new Jordanian mobile telephone network operator, and is the operator of the mobile communications licence granted to Jordan Telecom. The company, formerly known as PetraCell, combines Jordan Telecom's capability with the technological advantages and network management/operation experience of one of the world's leading telecommunications operators, France Telecom.

Under the agreement, Ericsson will supply MobileCom with a full GSM infrastructure and service portfolio, enabling MobileCom to offer its customer the latest features in advanced GSM mobile communication services over a high quality network. The service itself will launch in the final quarter of the year 2000 and there are plans to expand the network to 300,000 subscribers in the very near future.

On January the 23rd, Jordan sold 40 percent of the Jordan Telecommunications shares to the France Telecom-led consortium and minority partner Arab Bank. The rest of the JTC shares are to be divided amongst three partners: the government, which remains the majority shareholder at 51 percent, the Social Security Corp (SSC) takes eight percent, and one percent is to be allocated to a special JTC employee savings fund.

From the part of the government, Minister of Telecommunications Abdallah Touqan signed the two agreements with president of France Telecom Michel Bon at a ceremony attended by Prime Minsiter Abdul-Raouf al-Rawabdeh and senior government officials. Bon said that the acquisition would boost the French firm's regional presence, which already includes interests in Egypt and Lebanon, and that France Telecom is planning to invest over $400 million in Jordan Telecommunications Company (JTC) over the next five years to upgrade the telecommunications infrastructure. The new Chairman of JTC, Mr. Shabib Ammari reported that "the plan includes improving the billing process, providing high-speed data access to boost the growing IT industry infrastructure, launching an Internet service and setting up the country’s second mobile phone service network by September".

Sources at the Ministry of Telecommunications confirmed that the deal would give the French company the privilege to monopolise telephone services by year 2003. The sources also stressed that all services will be exempted from customs duty during the same period.

The deal worth $508 million is the first major privatisation deal since the kingdom began an accelerated liberalisation under a new three-year programme of IMF-backed reforms begun last year that have also secured it World Trade Organisation (WTO) membership. Finance Minister Michel Marto said the deal emphasised Jordan's seriousness in pushing ahead with liberalising its economy and fulfilling its commitments to accelerate privatisation under IMF-guided reforms. A new management board of JTC was formed in a new corporate entity in which the global consortium would have three seats of a seven-member board.

A $102 million agreement was also reached on January between the SSC and the government to pave way for the former to buy its shares in the JTC. Earlier reports suggested that the SSC deal would earn the national treasury $4.2 million in taxes. The two deals making $610 million in profits, comprises around 50 percent of the JTC's actual value.

Meanwhile, the government made sure that rights of the JTC employees would not be affected. It also assured that none of the JTC workers would lose his/her job over the latest developments. Earlier this month the Arab Bank formed a public limited company (PLC) to run the economic consortium together with the French company.

Abu Dhabi-based Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Co. has signed a service provider agreement for Jordan with a company owned by the Saudi-based Silki La Silki Telecommunications Co.

A Thuraya said that, under the agreement, ZAJEL would distribute and market Thuraya services and products in Jordan. The agreement, signed on the 8^th of February, in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, includes distributing user terminals, subscriber identity module (SIM) cards, billing and customer-care management.

Thuraya, which is building a regional mobile satellite network, is due to launch its satellite in mid-2000 and start services later in the year. The firm, with capital of $500 million, is owned by several major Arab enterprises, including the UAE's Etisalat Telephone Co, Abu Dhabi Investment Co, Qatar Telecom (Q-Tel) and the Arab Satellite Communications Organization (Arabsat), itself owned by 21 Arab states.

His Majesty King Abdullah discussed with Michel Lacombe, president of Microsoft Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, ways and means to fully realise the potential of Jordan's nascent information technology sector. King Abdullah explained the private and public sectors' efforts to create an environment conducive to the development of an IT industry, including legislation to encourage investments and enforce intellectual property rights protection. The King also stressed that Jordan's telecommunications infrastructure is being modernised.

Lacombe also met with Prime Minister Abdur-Ra'uf S. Rawabdeh, Post and Telecommunications Minister Abdullah Toukan, and Trade and Industry Minister Mohammad Halaiqa, who is also caretaker planning minister. Lacombe stressed that Jordan has a lot to do before its ambition to become IT regional centre can materialise. As a prelude to further investments that could make Jordan one of its full-fledged subsidiaries, Microsoft has committed itself to cooperate with the government. According to Lacombe, Microsoft wants to make sure that adequate infrastructure and skills are available to support their technologies. That entails investing in marketing and raising awareness of new technologies available, also through certification programmes and enhanced co-operation with Jordanian universities.

Lacombe visit in Jordan was in fulfilment of a promise made to the King by Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates after talks the two held on the fringes of the World Economic Forum in Davos. On that occasion, Gates, who is now also Microsoft Chief Software Architect, expressed serious interest in getting acquainted with Jordan's IT efforts, legal framework and incentives, and pledged to look into the potential for Microsoft operations in the Kingdom. He also pledged that Microsoft would be represented at the highest levels at Jordan's first IT forum, to be convened on March 24-25 as a coronation of the King's efforts to familiarise world IT leaders with investment opportunities in Jordan.

Ways and means to promote the IT sector in Jordan were first blueprinted last June in a private sector initiative dubbed the "REACH Initiative" — Regulatory framework, Estate and infrastructure, Advancement programmes, Capital and Human resources development. The brainchild of some 30 IT professionals, the REACH Initiative estimated that even from its early development stages the IT industry could create as many as 30,000 IT-related jobs, capitalising on the 2,300 graduates in IT-related subjects that Jordanian universities and technical colleges produce each year. This figure does not include Jordanians studying abroad and the number of "brains" that could be lured back home once adequate opportunities are created. Software outsourcing production, akin to a global assembly line, could generate $550 million in annual exports and $150 million in cumulative foreign investment, the REACH Initiative also estimated.

King Abdallah has held talks with visiting Microsoft Vice-President of the Middle East, North Africa and Europe, Michel Le Combe. The meeting comes ahead of the King's initiative to familiarise world information technology leaders with investment opportunities in Jordan by inviting representatives of Internet titans and cyber-multinationals to the Kingdom's first IT forum, to be held at the Dead Sea in late March. As for the IT Forum, to be convened 24-25 March, organisers said that it will bring together key government officials, private sector investors and representatives from international agencies and companies to share their visions and solutions for the development of Jordan's IT sector.
The conference is expected to start with presentations on the Kingdom's competitive advantages as a potential base for the IT sector. A second part will assess the development of Jordan's telecommunications infrastructure, evaluating also its regulatory framework.

Jordan's recent accession to the World Trade Organisation and the adoption of required legislation, especially in the protection of intellectual property rights, will also be discussed. Companies expected to be represented at the forum include Sun Micro systems, Oracle Corporation, One World Software, and America On Line. Promotion of the IT sector in Jordan was first blueprinted last June in a private sector initiative dubbed the "REACH Initiative"-Regulatory framework, Estate and infrastructure, Advancement programs, Capital and Human resources development.

His Majesty King Abdallah's efforts to transform Jordan's growing software industry into a regional, or even global, power have been welcomed by the thousands of people working in this very active sector in the country. In addition, the King's efforts resulted in a decision by Cisco Systems to invest in Jordan. CEO John Chambers said that his company will invest one million dollars in a newly created high-tech fund for Jordan. The decision reflected Cisco's faith in the future of Jordan's IT market.

JTC launches a project for a network based on ATM technology

JTC officials announced during the IT forum, their intention to invite, next month, firms to take part in a tender for the first stage of a multi-phase project to introduce a comprehensive Data Communication Network and Internet Services based on ATM technology. The project will provide high-speed data access for the IT industry, Internet Service Providers, corporations, government departments, universities and residential customers.