CITRA
Kuwait's regulator for telecommunications and information technology, established under Law No. 37 of 2014; it licenses services, manages spectrum and numbering and administers the .kw domain.
Industry: Telecommunications and information technology regulation | Location: Kuwait | Founded: 2014
About CITRA
The Communication and Information Technology Regulatory Authority, known as CITRA, is the regulator for Kuwait's telecommunications and information technology sector. Its website says it supervises and monitors the sector, protects subscribers, users and service providers, and regulates all telecom networks in the country. Its stated goals are optimal sector performance, transparency, equality and free competition, and its tasks include setting service regulations and prices, encouraging competition and investment, and licensing telecom services.
CITRA was created under Law No. 37 of 2014. Oxford Business Group reported that Parliament approved the bill in April 2014 and that the authority came into being in November 2014. It took over regulatory duties from the Ministry of Communications, which had both regulated the sector and offered services on the fixed-line network, and the handover was formally made in February 2016. The Council of Ministers issued the law's Executive Regulations as Resolution No. 993 of 2015 on 13 July 2015. They give the chairman of the board responsibility for managing the authority's business, representing it before third parties and the courts, issuing regulations for the sector, and deciding how radio spectrum is managed and which technical standards apply to communications equipment. Oxford Business Group reported in 2016 that the board had seven members. Forbes Middle East says Khaled Al-Zamel became chairman in 2025.
CITRA's website lists five departments: Policies and Regulations, Supervision, Strategy Planning and Governance Management, Corporate Services, and Infrastructure and Operations. Its services include internet service provider licensing, frequency spectrum, numbering, consumer affairs, tenders, cell tower requirements and registration of .kw domain names. Forbes Middle East dates the launch of 5G services in Kuwait to June 2025.
On 16 March 2026 CITRA announced that it had granted Starlink a licence to provide satellite internet in Kuwait, saying in a statement to the Kuwait News Agency that Starlink met its regulatory and technical requirements. Sama X, a venture of Alghanim Industries, launched the service the next day. In June 2026 CITRA told the agency that its revenue for the 2025-26 fiscal year was KD 115 million, 4.3 percent more than the previous year.