2013 saw the transition of power from the former Emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, to Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, his fourth son and second son with Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, a move unprecedented elsewhere in the Gulf but not unexpected in Qatar.
A quiet revolution has been taking place in Qatar over the last decade. While the gas-gushing Ras Laffan Industrial City and its trebling exports were seizing headlines, other government enterprises were concentrating not on pipelines but phone lines. A more connected Qatar, the logic went, could boost technology literacy and help form a robust...
What are the benefits of having a satellite focused on the Middle East and North Africa region as opposed to using existing infrastructure?
Since its first commercial launch in 2001, the spread of third-generation, or 3G, mobile networks has redefined how people use the web, providing broadbandvelocity access to consumers on the go. Global uptake mushroomed in response: subscriptions rose from 268m in 2007 to 2.1bn in 2013, an annual increase of 40%, according to the International...
To what extent is the long-term sustainability of the industry, particularly revenue growth, reliant on a steady stream of technological innovation?
A third of a century after Qatar launched its first public phone service in 1953 with a modest 150 lines, Law No. 13 created a state-owned company to run the sector. When Qatar Telecom (Qtel), now known as Ooredoo, moved into mobile services in 1994, its Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) was among the first in the Middle East. Only...
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