The new speed, which is the “fastest ever reached by a mobile operator in the country”, has been “successfully trialled” in partnership with Nokia and will be introduced to Ooredoo customers with compatible 4.5G phones in early 2017.
Ooredoo will also make a range of 4.5G-compatible hardware commercially-available at the same time.
Ooredoo Qatar Chief Executive Officer Waleed Mohamed al- Sayed said, "This is another major step forward for Ooredoo and Qatar, as we continue to provide the latest technology and fastest Internet speeds in the country. We launched the Ooredoo Supernet initiative to provide the best possible network experience for our customers, and we live up to our commitments.”
“Our long-term strategic partner, Nokia, has continued to support us with our vision of upgrading our award-winning Supernet, and will play a key role in helping us provide a 5G capable network in the near future,” he added.
The launch of 4.5G forms a “key step” in Ooredoo’s roadmap to launch 5G services, following its successful trial of 5G technology in December.
Bernard Najm, vice-president and head (Middle East Market Unit, Nokia) said, "We are committed to supporting the Ooredoo Supernet initiative with our latest technology innovations. Use of three-carrier component aggregation with 4x4 MIMO and 256 QAM is the perfect solution for Ooredoo as it looks to optimise the network performance with the available spectrum. This year, Ooredoo Qatar and Nokia already commercially launched Cat 11 with speeds close to 500 Mbps, and through this current demonstration, we are preparing the network to launch up to 1Gbps speed.”
Ooredoo’s 4.5G Pro speed test took place in the company’s ICT service dedicated ‘OASIS’ laboratory, and the speeds will help ensure the ‘Best operator network’ in the Middle East is equipped to meet surging consumer data demands now and in the future.
This is the latest in a host of Supernet updates for the company, as Ooredoo continue to invest in ensuring the best data and network experience for their customers.
