KUWAIT CITY, Oct 31: The Communication and Information Technology Regulatory Authority (CITRA) denied the validity of the reports circulating about the Kuwait International Gateway tender, stressing that it does not allow Internet surveillance in Kuwait. In response to a parliamentary question by MP Hamad Abdul Rahman Al-Olayan, CITRA explained in a memorandum sent to the Director General Omar Saud Al-Omar, the Minister of Municipal Affairs, and the Minister of State for Communications Affairs Fahad Al-Shoula that the project is related to developing the Kuwait International Gateway, and it is an existing and extended project. In each contract, CITRA renews licenses, and maintains, and develops systems capacities in view of the continuous increase in Internet capacities in the State of Kuwait. It revealed that a total of ten local companies had applied to win the tender.

In response to a question about whether user data will be sent under this agreement to a third party, CITRA explained that the third party was mentioned in the technical specifications brochure document in clause 16.10 on page No. 74. The wording of the clause is as follows - “The required system known as DPI must support the ability to copy subscriber traffic and send it to a third-party system interface.” The benefits mentioned in the item are technical terms that mean the system requested in the tender must have the ability to communicate and integrate with different systems in the nature of its operation, known as “third-party systems”. This ability is basic and required for all technical systems connected to the Internet. For example, the system requested in the tender must have the ability to link to other systems used to extract monthly reports or other systems to analyze traffic data and other

By Mohammed Ghanem
Al-Seyassah/Arab Times Staff