The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) announced achieving two certificates from the Emirates International Accreditation Centre (EIAC), as it obtained ISO (17025) certification in accredited laboratory for the National Laboratory for Communication Equipment and Technologies, and ISO (17020) for inspection and monitoring the telecom market.  

Achieving these two international certifications comes as a result of TRA’s commitment to applying the technical standards for the approval of materials and devices and the standards of inspection and testing launched by the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC), in line with TRA’s leadership keenness to apply and adopt the best international standards in operations and services provided to customers.

Commenting on this achievement, Eng. Saif Bin Ghelaita, CEO of Technology Development Affairs in TRA said: “TRA strives to achieve excellence in all its procedures and services. Progressively, excellence has become a culture, a professional behavior and a general approach that prevails in the workplace as per the wise Government's directives and to achieve the UAE goals in all fields. In this context, we are keen to adopt the latest plans, strategies and work systems, and we are committed to providing the best ICT services, in order to achieve the happiness of all members of the UAE society. TRA applies the highest international standards in its work, and as a result, it achieved several certificates by the International Organization for Standardization, including the International Accreditation Certificate for the National Laboratory for Communication Equipment and Technologies and a Certificate for Standards for Inspection and Control of the Communications Equipment Market.

This achievement is the result of TRA’s excellence in providing type approval services for telecommunications devices and technologies, and its constant concern that all communications devices in the country conform to international specifications and standards, without causing any kind of harm to users, or interference or damage to communication networks.”

The Type Approval team at TRA has applied the standard of ISO 17025 on testing, which is concerned with laboratory management operations in general, and technical topics for testing communications devices in accordance with internationally approved technical standards in particular, and also is concerned with ensuring that the specialized technical human cadres are capable of performing these tests.

Furthermore, the inspection standard ISO 17020 focuses in particular on the inspection of communications devices that have been approved by TRA in accordance with the procedures approved in the standard. The inspection process is conducted accurately and systematically, ensuring the quality of the process, and ensuring the human abilities to conduct inspections. These standards also include ensuring information privacy and clarity, enabling and assessing human capabilities, managing operations and documents periodically, and constant auditing and development.

TRA provides many Type Approval services, including registering and approving telecommunications devices, registering suppliers of telecommunications devices in the UAE, and custom clearance of telecommunications devices. The TRA system of type approval includes determining and registering telecom devices that can be used in the UAE without causing damage for users, interference or damage to communication networks. It also includes supervising and participating in the approval and registration of telecommunications devices in the UAE before import to ensure their compatibility with laws and regulations. Type Approval also contributes to the custom release process for devices intended for non-commercial use in addition to regulating the import and sale of telecommunications devices in the UAE, ensuring that manufacturers and suppliers are registered and approved by TRA, as well as issuing type approval certificates for devices that comply with the specifications required by the TDRA.