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...
Qatari authorities have for years touted the importance of information technology (IT) as a driver of growth in knowledge-based sectors. They see IT as foundational to the country’s economic future, able not only to grow as an industry it its own right but to drive growth in other brain-heavy sectors like health, government and education, and...
Through strong government support, an attractive business environment and innovative free zones, Dubai has established itself as a leading regional centre for information and communications technology (ICT). Growth of information technology (IT) services is poised to accelerate as demand for off-site business solutions, especially in certain...
In many ways, 2012 was a turning point for the telecoms industry in Dubai. While overall revenues rose by 10% to Dh26.9bn ($7.32bn), those from the fixed-line segment dropped by more than 8% and average revenue per user (ARPU) fell across the sector. As recent figures illustrate, parts of the sector that could once be relied upon for steady...
When economic restructuring began in Oman in the 1970s, the telecoms sector was under-developed, with less than 600 telephone lines and little in terms of fixed infrastructure. It was in 1980 that the telecommunications industry began to take off, with the formation of the General Telecommunications Organisation, which had a mandate to push...
As Oman’s residents increasingly embrace the latest in wireless technologies, the advent of 4G long-term evolution (LTE) technologies in the sultanate has the potential to make a significant impact on the mobile market. Although the sultanate was relatively late in rolling out 3G services, the precursor to 4G LTE, operators in Oman have been...
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