Qatar’s telecommunication company Ooredoo’s activities
In late June 2016, Qatar’s telecommunication company Ooredoo announced the signing of two agreements. The first was signed with the Qatar Chamber, for cooperation to better represent Qatar’s business community and support its national Vision 2030. As part of this agreement, the company will provide telecommunications services and innovative apps to support the Chamber activities for the business community. In return, the Chamber will act towards connecting its members to the telecom company when these require business services and innovative technology.
At the same time, it was published that after a successfully completed big data pilot project, the Qatari telecom company had signed a strategic partnership agreement with Senseta, a big data analytics solutions provider, with the objective of offering solutions in the field of data analytics to leading enterprises in Qatar. This agreement positions Ooredoo as a leading player in the big data analytics market by deploying Senseta’s Big Data Analytics Center (BDAC) in Qatar.
In late October 2016, the company published its financial reports for the first nine months of the year. According to these reports, its net revenues increased by 4% compared to the parallel period in the previous year, mainly thanks to its activity in Qatar, Oman, Indonesia, Algeria, and the Maldives. Ooredoo’s client base increased by 13% to 133 million, with market share increasing mainly in Indonesia, Myanmar, Oman, Iraq, Tunisia, Algeria, Maldives, and Palestine.
The company continues to be a major player in the data field, and G4 services are currently available in eight out of its ten markets. It has successfully deployed its Asia-Africa-Europe-1 (AAE-1) submarine communications cable system in August 2016.
It continued to invest in a Data Center in Qatar. This center provides access for Ooredoo’s clients to over 30 data centers in nine countries.
On the other hand, it recorded a loss of 51% in its net profit during the last quarter, mainly due to losses in foreign currency as well as in profits in its activity in Iraq.
According to reports from mid December 2016, Ooredoo had successfully accomplished trials in G5 technology, thereby becoming the first in the region and among only a few in the world. In trials conducted in cooperation with the companies of Huawei and Nokia, Ooredoo attained the fastest mobile data service in the world today, 35.46 GB per second. However, it will still take time until G5 services become fully available for the company clients.
