Ooredoo has scored a first again in an important technological breakthrough for the telecommunications industry worldwide. Ooredoo announced on Monday that the company is the first operator in the world to launch a live 5G network on the 3.5GHz spectrum band.
Ooredoo’s 5G network is the first commercially available 5G network in the world. The launch shows that Qatar’s technological progress remains unaffected despite unjust siege imposed by blockading countries.
The 5G network will offer a speed of up to 10 Gigabits per second compared to the currently available speed of up to 256 Megabits per second. The Ooredoo 5G service offers the latest network technology (5G NR) meaning much higher speeds, capacity, and better latency, than existing cellular systems.
The new network will bring advantages over the previous generations of cellular technology and will enable business and consumer customers to unlock more of their potential and explore opportunities that were simply not possible before 5G.
Waleed Al Sayed, Chief Executive Officer, Ooredoo Qatar, said: “We are the first company in the world to offer access to 5G technology and services, and the people of Qatar are the first to have access to the incredible benefits this technological upgrade will bring. We dedicate this important milestone to the people of Qatar and to our beloved leaders, who have encouraged this step in building the knowledge-based economy of Qatar.”
In becoming the first company in the world to deploy commercial 5G, Ooredoo has built upon an impressive number of earlier milestones, including the first-in-the-region trials of 5G on Qatar National Day in 2016, the completion of 10 5G-ready base stations in May 2017, and the launch of the 5G Business services trial in partnership with Qatar Airways in November 2017.
Ooredoo plans to install 100 5G stations to cover nearly 85 percent of Qatar’s population within three months before the coverage expands to include the whole country with up to 1,200 stations.
“Ooredoo has been a leader in 5G service deployment since 2016. The 5G Supernet will be the infrastructural backbone of Qatar as our nation pushes to offer the latest smart applications in-line with Qatar National Vision 2030.
“This network will provide the necessary founda-tion to introduce a wave of new innovations, including driverless cars and smart roads, virtual and augmented reality, a national fleet of service drones, and much more,” Waleed Al Sayed said.
Counting on its firsts, Ooredoo Group rolled out 4G+ across 200 townships in Myanmar, enriching the digital lives of more than 15 million people.
Also, Ooredoo Group said that its operating company in Palestine, Wataniya Mobile, successfully launched 3G services in West Bank. Ooredoo Group is reaching out to people and continues to focus on its core mission to make the Internet accessible and enjoyable for one and all throughout the world.