He said Ooredoo has already invested more than QR1.5bn in building fibre network for residential communities and buildings in Qatar. Currently, residents of 275,000 houses in Qatar are enjoying fibre connectivity and fibre services, al-Sayed emphasised during the launching of the company’s 1Gbps fibre plan yesterday.
Citing a previous study on fibre penetration and fibre rollout preparedness, al-Sayed said Qatar was ranked number one worldwide in speed of fibre rollout and number seven in the world in fibre penetration.
“A new study will be launched today, and I am sure that Qatar will be number in the world in terms of fibre penetration because more than 85% of the houses in Qatar are already connected with fibre.
“By the end of the first quarter of 2017, I don’t think there is a need for a study anymore to prove that because every single house and building in Qatar will be connected with fibre,” al-Sayed stressed.
Al-Sayed said Qatar has three Internet speeds for Ooredoo’s fibre-to-home: 10Mbps, 50Mbps, “and the ultimate speed of 100Mbps.”
“In February 2016, we have increased the speed to 300Mbps, which was three times the speed that was initially launched. And today, we have another milestone – an amazing number – 1Gbps, which is very impressive because it is a unique speed that belongs to very few countries around the world,” al-Sayed said, referring to Ooredoo’s newly-launched fibre plan.
Citing several benefits, al-Sayed said the 1Gbps fibre plan provides faster download time and improved Ooredoo TV services, and allows customers to use multiple devices without compromising Internet speed.
Al-Sayed also said Ooredoo and its international partners are regularly testing 5G products, “which are going to take the mobile programme to 10Gbps in the future.”
“When the service will be available, we are going to promise the people of Qatar that the country will be the first in the world or one of the first countries in the world to launch 5G services,” al-Sayed added.
Ooredoo Qatar CEO Waleed al-Sayed introduces the country's first 1Gbps fibre plan. PICTURE: Noushad Thekkayil.
By the end of the first quarter of 2017, all houses and buildings in Qatar will be connected with fibre, Ooredoo Qatar CEO Waleed al-Sayed has said.
