Ooredoo Chief Operating Officer Waleed Al Sayed displays the 4G My-Fi device during the 4G service launch at St Regis Hotel yesterday. Qassim Rahmatullah
By Azmat Haroon
Doha: The country’s fastest mobile network will be available to Ooredoo customers starting today, with the company announcing the commercial launch of 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) network yesterday.
The service will be initially available in greater Doha including areas such as The-Pearl, Katara, West Bay, Corniche, as well as the Sealine Beach Resort, and plans are in place to increase coverage on a monthly basis.
The QR200m project will see the installation of 900 base stations across the country by 2014, Waleed Al Sayed, Chief Operating Officer, Ooredoo Qatar, said at a press conference yesterday.
With 4G, customers will be able experience connection speeds that are three-to-six times faster than the existing 3G network. The service offers seamless connections when browsing multimedia-rich websites, updating social media, or streaming music and HD video with 4G USB modems and My-Fi devices. Customers, however, will need devices that are compatible with 800 MHz and 2,600 MHz frequencies to avail the newly launched 4G network. “There are devices available in the market that support 4G. The iPhone 5 does not have the 800 MHz and 2,600 MHz frequency yet, but it is promised by Apple that the new generation of iPhone will have that frequency,” Al Sayed said yesterday.
He added that the problem with devices was not specific to Qatar, and that markets in the Middle East and Europe were facing a similar dilemma.
“We are assuming that by the third quarter (July to September) there will be better frequency in the country,” he said.
Ooredoo 4G will be initially available to the subscribers of the Shahry Unlimited Mobile Broadband Plan, which costs QR400 per month. Customers can unlock the service using the 4G Key, with QR60 monthly charges. The service will also be available on Ooredoo’s new 4G My-Fi device and a 4G-enabled dongle. Ooredoo plans to make the service available for other mobile data plans in the coming months. Ooredoo is working with vendors to ensure that there is a wide selection of 4G LTE-compatible devices available at affordable prices in Qatar, and strong demand is expected from customers across the country, the company said.
Customers who are outside of the 4G LTE network coverage areas will move seamlessly from 4G to the existing 3G network with no disruption of service.
Within 2014, all areas of Qatar are expected to be covered by Ooredoo’s 4G LTE network.
The Peninsula
