DOHA: Ooredoo yesterday 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 is the top-ranked Arab country and listed as number 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 (ninth) households having access to a computer (eighth) and Internet connection (tenth), which has become almost universal and has helped to achieve very high social impacts (eighth).
Ooredoo has made major contributions to this positioning, by supplying innovative services such as the nationwide Fibre Optic network to homes and businesses, 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).
Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Saud Al Thani, Chairman of Ooredoo, said, “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.”
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.
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.
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 Qatar has supported a number of initiatives aimed at enhancing youth entrepreneurship, including the Ooredoo Group-led initiative the Arab Mobile App Challenge.
The Peninsula
