Ooredoo today announced that the fastest 5G Speed Experience in the world, using commercial smartphones and a live network, is now available for its customers in Qatar.

As Ooredoo works to be one of the first operators in the world to offer 5G technology for all its customers, it continues to invest in and thoroughly test the latest 5G equipment, software, and spectrum requirements, leading up to the standardisation of 5G technology.

A large part of this investment has involved working with world-class partners to develop and test 5G technologies leading up to standardisation and commercial availability in the future.  Tests, carried out on live sites across Ooredoo’s network, trialled network speed and latency, achieving speeds exceeding 1Gbps.

Waleed Al Sayed, CEO, Ooredoo Qatar and Deputy CEO, Ooredoo Group commented: “This is a first-in-the-world landmark for Qatar, and demonstrates that Ooredoo has built one of the world’s leading networks.  Ooredoo will continue to invest heavily in our networks to make sure that everyone across our global footprint can enjoy the internet and its life enhancing benefits. There is no doubt that 5G services will have a huge impact on businesses and people, unlocking speeds for seamless browsing, next-generation business applications, and more. We are committed to being one of the first operators globally to make this service commercially available to our customers.”

As part of a series of related announcements, Ooredoo also announced that Qatar Airways will be its first 5G connected corporate customer. This network for business phase of Ooredoo’s 5G launch efforts is a first in the region, with a recent trial demonstrating Ooredoo’s ability to operate in the 5G spectrum using advanced 5G technology such as Massive MIMO antennas. 

Waleed Al Sayed added: “Ooredoo 5G Connected Corporate Commercial Services will see us enable more businesses to fulfil their digital potential. I cannot emphasise enough the importance of this successful pre-standardised 5G connection for our business customers in Qatar and the impact this service can have on Qatar’s digital economy in the future.”

When launched, Ooredoo’s 5G Connected Corporate Commercial Services will utilise the latest network technology to offer much higher speeds, capacity and better latency than existing cellular systems. On top of a better and faster service, Ooredoo’s 5G Commercial Services will provide a connectivity solution via radio technology for corporate customers located in hard-to-reach remote areas as an alternative to high speed wired networks.

This is the latest technological milestone for Ooredoo in Qatar:

• On National Day in 2016, Ooredoo completed trials for 5G speed and latency, achieving incredible speeds of up to 36 Gbps in their cutting-edge engineering hub – which made it at that time the fastest mobile data service in the world.
• In May 2017, Ooredoo announced that 10 of its base stations had been equipped with 5G-ready technology, and the company plans to start offering the next-generation speeds to all consumers in 2018, when 5G-ready devices are released.
• In November, Ooredoo successfully completed testing of Massive MIMO 5G technology in partnership with Qatar Airways.