HE the Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani addressing the gathering at the opening session of the ITU World 2014 at the Qatar National Convention Centre yesterday. PICTURE: Jayan Orma
Joseph Varghese/Staff Reporter
Ooredoo Qatar, along with partners Nokia Networks and China Mobile, has set up a new world record in mobile broadband speed with over 4.1 Gbps speed over the TDD-FDD LTE network.
This was showcased yesterday at the ITU Telecom World 2014, being held at Qatar National Convention Centre.
Announcing the details, Waleed Mohamed al-Sayed, chief operating officer, Ooredoo Qatar, said that using this feature, users can download a full-length 5GB HD movie in just 11 seconds and simultaneously upload a 30MB video in less than a second.
According to the official, the partnership has set an industry benchmark at 300 Mbps uplink with 3.8 Gbps downlink. Supported by the Global TD-LTE Initiative, the speed was achieved by combining TDD- and FDD-LTE spectrums and aggregating 10 carriers with 200 MHz bandwidth.
Al-Sayed said: “We are building the biggest, fastest network in Qatar, so that customers across the country can access next-generation wireless data services. We are very proud that the first-ever ITU Telecom World to be held in Qatar should showcase this record-breaking success with the support of Ooredoo. By deploying our advanced LTE network in Qatar, we are truly laying the foundation for the future.”
The official also said that this development was a challenge on the other stakeholders in the telecom industry for devices that can perform faster.
“We are putting pressure on manufacturers of mobile devices as well as regulators to come up with new devices that can match the speed.We are also calling upon the regulators, the decision makers and the ITU to push the sector to provide us with some devices that can cater to the new levels of speed.”
He said: “Earlier we used to spend hours and subsequently minutes for the download and upload of data. Now we are not going to wait as it can be downloaded in seconds. People need not wait for longer duration for downloading. This is going to make everyone’s life easier in all the sectors including business, government, as well as for the consumers.”
Al-Sayed also said that the whole concept was tested in the laboratories in China as well as in Qatar. “It worked in the labs and we are trying to convince the manufactures that there is a new generation of high speed. In a few years, it will be commercialised. It might take some time but it is going to be a reality,” he added.
