TRA Expands Spectrum Monitoring and Control System

The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) expanded the spectrum frequencies monitoring and control system by adding seven stations to the existing mobile stations, to reach a total number of 13 stations.

The expansion of the system comes in line with TRA policy aiming to preserve spectrum, which is considered a limited national treasure, and to prevent any illegal use of it. The system also means to reduce the harmful interference in order to achieve the highest quality of radio services.
The TRA spectrum management system can be controlled electronically from the authority headquarter in Abu Dhabi or Dubai sub-headquarter and it doesn’t require the presence of any staff at the stations. TRA endeavored to provide the fixed monitoring stations with all the advanced tools of safety and security, including surveillance cameras, fire protection systems and sophisticated warning systems that notify the staff directly via SMS about the situation of the station. Additionally, the TRA has trained a technical team to operate and maintain both fixed and mobile stations without any foreign expertise.
In this respect, H.E. Mohamed Al Ghanim, TRA Director General said: “The TRA aims to achieve the optimal use of spectrum as it is considered a scare national treasure. We use state-of-the-art equipments to monitor any unauthorized usage or misuse, which may affect any relevant party in the UAE.”
The benefit of Radio Frequencies lies in their ability to send signals over long distances up to hundreds of kilometers unlike the human voice, which fades after few meters. Thus, the same signal can be transmitted and carried through the RF to distant places. Spectrum has a unique nature as it is a limited natural resource and is available to all countries equally. Practically, spectrum starts from 9 kHz to 3000 GHz, which is the maximum.
The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) monitors the spectrum frequencies according to an audio- visual plan that detects any broadcast made by unauthorized stations and identifies any spurious broadcast, which often causes interference that affects the authorized users. Any sites that violate the TRA regulations are monitored by either the fixed or the mobile monitoring stations.
One of the significant benefits of spectrum monitoring is that it indicates signals and broadcasting from neighboring countries that may interfere the allocations of the licensees in the UAE. It also detects and reports coverage, which crosses the borders in order to achieve the optimal use of spectrum within the territory of the UAE.