Ooredoo today celebrated the recent results of the 2014 Global Information and Technology Report with the people of Qatar, and reiterated its commitment to helping the nation to become one of the world's best connected countries, in line with the Qatar National Vision 2030.
Qatar’s success in rising in the ranking is particularly timely, with the country set to host the 2014 annual edition of ITU Telecom World, the global meeting of communications companies and government bodies.
Qatar Top-Ranked Arab Country
Qatar is the top-ranked Arab country and listed as No. 23 out of 148 developed and developing countries in the “Networked Readiness Index” report, which was commissioned by the World Economic Forum, an international institution committed to improving global issues such as technology, through public-private cooperation.
The report states that Qatar is among the top 10 of Internet users in the world (9th) households having access to a computer (8th) and Internet connection (10th), which has become almost universal and has helped to achieve very high social impacts (8th).
Ooredoo, Qatar’s leading communications company, has made major contributions to this positioning, by supplying innovative services to Qatar such as the nationwide Fibre Optic network to homes and businesses, Qatar’s first and only 4G LTE network and High Definition Voice calls – supporting the rapidly-growing knowledge-based economy.
In the report, Qatar was ranked 46 in terms of global Technological innovation, and with one quarter of the population employed in knowledge-intensive jobs (61st).
Ooredoo’s investment in major infrastructure stretches back many years, building the network that has supported the nation’s dynamic economy, and enabling many national firsts, including the first GSM mobile and Internet services, the major Ooredoo Data Center, and a global network of cable and satellite connections.
To ensure that the whole community can benefit from this major investment, Ooredoo launched the #OoredooSmart campaign in 2014, to ensure accessibility for all to the latest products and services.
H.E. Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Bin Saud Al Thani, Chairman of Ooredoo, commented: “Ooredoo is driving ahead to make Qatar one of the best-connected country’s in the world, and is set to become a world leader in the networked society, due to on-going investment and development. Ooredoo is proud to be a national brand that represents Qatar around the world, and in light of these new findings, we promise to continue pioneering new services, introduce new technology, and support the development of young Qatari talent. Ooredoo has a long history in Qatar – and we are heading towards an even brighter future with our customers.”
Qatar as a Global Connectivity Hub
The on-going cooperation between Ooredoo and numerous telecommunication companies is a significant step in positioning Qatar as a major hub for connectivity and infrastructure in the GCC and wider region.
By creating partnerships with other telecommunications and global connectivity leaders, Ooredoo can ensure the rapidly expanding cyber traffic flow via Qatar meets customers’ needs globally year-on-year.
Through combined infrastructure and networking, Ooredoo can also significantly enhance the telecommunication and internet services for millions of users in Qatar.
Recently, Ooredoo has signed a string of high profile infrastructure agreements, including a global AAE-1 submarine cable linking Qatar to Europe and Hong Kong.
The AAE-1 cable will provide people in Qatar with access to new, high-speed global routing that will encourage the expansion of broadband penetration, internet usage and enterprise applications. It will also deliver faster and more reliable bandwidth and business-critical capacity for broadband data and high-quality voice services into the countries along its route.
Other partnerships include global network leader TeliaSonera, who have teamed with Ooredoo to offer a One-Stop Solution to meet Arab Regional Carriers growing Internet Protocol (IP) demands from the Node in Qatar, and a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Ooredoo and Omantel, for the implementation of a state-of-the-art, high-capacity and low-latency, Fibre optic cable system connecting Europe, Asia, and Africa through the Middle East.
Ooredoo aims to further expand its services and connectivity portfolio in 2014, as part of a wider customer experience upgrade, and is currently in talks with several global leaders.
Further cooperation’s, will allow Ooredoo to enhance the mobile broadband penetration and drive data consumption for customers in Qatar, and provide an enhanced network of life-enhancing services in the near future.
Connecting the Family
Ooredoo has had several major infrastructure milestones in the past year, including surpassing more than 100,000 Fibre customers in Qatar, as part of the company’s nationwide roll-out of the Ooredoo Fibre network. Ooredoo Fibre provides connection speeds that are up to 10 times faster than the existing copper wire cables.
The installation of Ooredoo Fibre, which started in 2011, positioned the country as a “Leading Fibre Nation” in a global study based on figures from the Fiber to the Home (FTTH) Council.
Thanks to Ooredoo's initiative, the global report “National Fibre Strategies: National economic imperative or just another private industry task?” by Arthur D. Little (ADL) estimated that Qatar had the fastest nationwide Fibre roll-outs in the world since the start of Ooredoo’s deployment.
The report stated that on average the percentage of homes passed by Fibre (33.3 percent of the total) and the number of homes connected (6.3 percent) per year exceeded that of several other highly-developed nations.
The UN Broadband Commission’s ‘State of Broadband Report 2013’ identified that at 88.1 percent, Qatar ranked first in the developing world in terms of percentage of individuals using the internet, and second only to the Republic of Korea (97 percent) for percentage of households with internet.
Since the report was released, Ooredoo has pledged to raise this figure, as the Fibre installation team connect new areas daily throughout Qatar. By December 2013, Ooredoo had supported more than 100,000 customers with Fibre services and had passed more than 250,000 homes. Ooredoo is on track to connect all populated areas of Qatar with Ooredoo Fibre by the end of 2014.
Smart Mobile Broadband Solutions
Ooredoo began testing their 4G services in 2012, officially launching the network for mobiles phone in September 2013. Since this date, Ooredoo’s 4G LTE coverage has surpassed all inhabited areas of Qatar ahead of target, as the company has installed around 500 4G-enabled sites across the country.
Ooredoo’s 4G LTE service is the only 4G network available in Qatar, and on average offers customers mobile internet speeds of up to 3 to 6 times faster than the previous 3G network.
With a wide range of plans available, and a growing range of 4G-enabled devices available from Ooredoo stores, Ooredoo is aiming to set new records for 4G access in the years ahead. Faster Internet has a huge range of heath, economic and social benefits, and Ooredoo is working with schools and universities to ensure that the next generation benefits from the service to the strongest degree.
Driving the Knowledge Based Economy
One of the key findings of the 2014 Global Information and Technology Report was that countries cannot only rely on ICT infrastructure development, and should implement strategies to enhance skills alongside the modern infrastructure.
Ooredoo has a long tradition of supporting innovation and entrepreneurship, launching services such as Ooredoo Business Fibre in July, 2013, which provides small and medium-sized businesses with the country’s most reliable connection to the Internet.
By enabling small and medium-sized businesses to connect at speeds that were traditionally only available to large enterprises, Ooredoo aims to boost Qatar’s knowledge based economy, and guarantee all of Qatar’s businesses the advantage of a globally connected marketplace.
Protecting the Next Generation of ICT
As Qatar becomes even more connected to the world, processing and securing data is more important than ever, as being globally connected, means the need for global internet security.
The Ooredoo Data Center, which launched in 2013, offers a globally recognised service and infrastructure against cyber-attacks, natural disasters and data loss for companies and governmental institutions.
The Ooredoo Data Center is the most sophisticated and advanced compliant data centres in the MENA region, and has been designed in compliance with world-class carrier standards to provide organisations with a full range of services including; Hosting & Co-location, Web Content Delivery, Data Backup & Restoration, Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery, Infrastructure Monitoring & Management and IT Security.
Leveraging the capacity of the Ooredoo Data Center, the company offers a host of additional security and recovery solutions, including Qatar’s first Cloud-based security solution Ooredoo Cloud Security.
Cloud security integrates web, email, mobile and the latest channels of communication to combat cyber-attacks. It also addresses Internet vulnerabilities for enterprise, government and SMEs.
The system is 100 percent cloud-based meaning that IT security teams can instantly create and deploy granular web-based policies – by user, group, location or action – to anyone, anywhere and on any device.
Championing Youth
Ooredoo Qatar has supported a number of initiatives aimed at enhancing youth entrepreneurship, including the Ooredoo Group-led initiative the Arab Mobile App Challenge, a key opportunity to promote start-up businesses, and technology-based career skills for Arab youth.
The Arab Mobile App Challenge was designed to raise awareness, discover and support local talent, with Qatar serving as the host for the regional finals. The apps will help to expand the current gap in Qatar’s online content market for commercially-successful Arabic language apps.
Wanting to ensure that the vision of championing youth was reached within their footprint, Ooredoo commissioned the survey, ‘New Horizons: Young, Arab and Connected’ aiming to highlight how young people in MENA region feel about their connectivity.
The survey found that 91% believe that technology is the basis of a modern, forward-thinking and functioning society, but that its potential as an economic tool has not yet been realised for young people across MENA
To address this issue, Ooredoo is working on a host of initiatives in 2014, including in-company training for young Qatari and Arab employees, start-up business seminars offering tips and advice, as well as partnerships and financial backing for a number of networking companies, including Qatar's How Women Work.
Supporting Qatar on the ICT World Stage
Qatar has been selected as the host country for ITU Telecom World 2014. The event will take place in Doha in December 2014 at the Qatar National Convention Centre and will bring together influential global leaders in the field of information and communication technologies (ICT) — from both the public and private sectors — to engage in strategic debate, knowledge-sharing, innovation showcasing and networking at the highest level.
Ooredoo has been appointed to help organise ITU Telecom World 2014, and as part of the 2030 Qatar National Vision, is pushing ahead with the national strategy to build a knowledge-based economy via its technological services and aim to showcase their progress at the event.
At ITU Telecom World, thousands of the world's leading communications professionals will be able to experience the life-enhancing technologies that Ooredoo has deployed in Qatar. These make Qatar not only one of the Arab world's most connected countries, but will put the country in the driver's seat of leading the next generation of global telecommunications.
Ooredoo’s support for this event is part of its long history of representing Qatar on the world stage as a leader in communication, and ensuring that the latest and very best technology and services are available for its customers.
About Ooredoo
Ooredoo is Qatar’s leading communications company, delivering mobile, fixed, broadband internet and corporate managed services tailored to the needs of consumers and businesses. As a community-focused company, Ooredoo is guided by its vision of enriching people’s lives and its belief that it can stimulate human growth by leveraging communications to help people achieve their full potential.
