Back in 2016, Ooredoo successfully carried out tests on the first 5G trial systems in Qatar and the first in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. Since then it has gone onto work with Qatar Airways through its Ooredoo Supernet network.
Speaking to the Qatar News Agency (QNA), Waleed Al Sayed, CEO of Ooredoo Qatar, said that the company has been proactive in adopting and developing the latest technologies and rolling it out to various parts of Qatar. He added that the company was the first in the world to deploy a 5G network using 3.5GHz spectrum.
The move will of course support things like the adoption of 5G and IoT. Sayed also explained that the company has already begun offering speeds of up to 2.51GHz with a high rate of capacity and low delay.
As the first country to rollout a 5G network on 3.5GHz band, it has increased speeds in the country from 10Gbps in comparison to the currently available 256Mbps.
Following in Ooredoo’s footsteps, Vodafone Qatar is not too far off 5G services itself. Ramy Boctor, CTO of Vodafone Qatar, told the QNA that the company is actively working to use its global communications experience to develop new innovations that he says ‘contribute to a better life’ and it hopes to start offering 5G services by the end of the year, once it the devices to support the next-gen technology become available.
He went on to say that 5G technology is crucial to the digital development process that both the company and country were experiencing. Particularly in the area of content, whereas Boctor said customers “will be able to download a full HD-quality film in just a few seconds, enjoy live streaming without any interruption or delay and the download speed will be faster than ever.”
