LTE represents almost 40% of Ooredoo Qatar mobile subs; the Arab telco has deployed over 1,030 4G LTE sites across the country
Qatar-based telecom group Ooredoo is one of the key players in the 4G market in the Middle East, having deployed 4G across five of its nine markets, and currently offers LTE-A services in Qatar and Kuwait. The telco operates in Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Tunisia, Algeria, Iraq, Indonesia, Myanmar and the Maldives. While the company has pursued a diversification strategy across its markets, Qatar continues to be a key market for the telco in terms of revenue contribution and technology innovation. To learn more about the firm’s business in Qatar, RCR Wireless News interviewed Ooredoo Qatar’s COO Waleed Al Sayed.
How many 4G LTE subscribers does Ooredoo currently have in Qatar, and how important is LTE technology to the company’s overall mobile subscriber base?
As of the first half of 2015, Ooredoo Qatar recorded more than 3 million mobile customers, and around 33.8% of these are using 4G and 4G+ services. We are very focused on data services as the most important revenue stream for our company now and in the future, so you can see that LTE services are critically important for our company. This is why we have invested in developing the world-class Ooredoo Supernet across the country.
The Ooredoo Supernet also encompasses Ooredoo’s fixed fiber network. Successful trials of speeds of up to and beyond 1 Gbps were completed earlier this year and the company plans to bring additional speed options to customers in the near future.
On top of the expansion and upgrades, we currently are conducting an all-network optimization program to further increase speeds for customers and boost download speeds across Qatar on both fixed and mobile networks.
How many LTE sites does the company operate in Qatar and are you expecting to deploy additional sites during 2015?
Ooredoo has more than 1,030 LTE sites in Qatar and continues to add more every month, as we aim to make Qatar the best-connected country in the world.
Recently, we’ve successfully completed the upgrade of 544 outdoor sites to 4G+. In addition, we had upgraded 182 indoor sites to 4G and 4 sites to 4G+, including some prime locations in leading malls, business centers, residential towers and hotels.
Among the new sites, Ooredoo has installed brand-new 4G+ towers in locations such as Al-Shamal City, Al- Khor, Wakrah, Wukair, Umm Saeed, Sealine and Khor Al-Udai.
What is the current coverage of the operator’s 4G+ service and what is the outlook in terms of future coverage of the 4G+ service?
The service is nationwide, and is available in all urban areas and across the country. Over the next three months we’re initiating “Project Desert,” which aims to significantly improve coverage in Qatar’s popular desert locations in time for the winter camping season. Our aim is to provide the best possible 4G+ experience wherever you are in the country.
We’re supporting these efforts with a range of cutting-edge technology, including providing small cells in popular network hot spots, enabling us to offer advanced voice and data services to customers even in the most crowded indoor and outdoor areas.
How important is the business in Qatar taking into account the group’s overall revenue?
Ooredoo has pursued a strategy of diversification in recent years, so that Ooredoo Qatar currently represents about 22% of the Group’s overall revenue. As a group, we have a good balance between core markets and emerging market opportunities.
However, as our home market, Ooredoo Qatar is very important as a pioneer and technology leader within our group. We’re supporting some of Qatar’s leading smart city projects, providing world-class 4G and fixed networks as the foundation for some of the most advanced urban developments in the world, as well as developing smart stadium technology which includes a range of intelligent network solutions designed to deliver news and information to fans inside the stadiums and a global TV audience. These projects are positioning Ooredoo as a leader in the provision of smart solutions across a range of sectors, including smart homes, smart traffic management, smart health care and smart urban planning solutions.
How are you seeing the evolution of data subscriptions in Qatar?
Qatar is very much at the cutting edge of the data market, in that smartphone subscriptions are already surpassing those for basic phones, and mobile broadband subscriptions dominate among new customers. We’ve launched and revamped our existing prepaid and postpaid portfolio in 2015 to reflect the changing demand for data, with a number of “Smart Packs” created specifically for data-led customers.
Content services, including music, games, video and movies, have become a key part of Ooredoo’s business, with revenue from content growing by 40% in Qatar in 2015.
What is the expected capital expenditure for the operation in Qatar for full 2015, and in which areas are you investing?
Ooredoo doesn’t provide forward-looking guidance on capex on a country-by-country basis, but we can say that Qatar saw 14% of total capex investment in 2014, and we believe that will remain consistent in 2015.
We are continuing to invest in all dimensions of the world-class Ooredoo Supernet, including enhancing 4G and 4G+ services, ensuring that we’re 5G ready, and continuing to rollout the nationwide fibre network.
Are you expecting to offer even higher LTE speeds in 2016 or 2017?
We believe there is significant capacity and potential to continue to offer greater speeds on the Ooredoo Supernet. Ooredoo demonstrated the capacity of its network in December 2014, when Ooredoo Qatar, Nokia Networks and China Mobile achieved a record speed of 4.1 Gbps over TDD-FDD LTE.
That’s the kind of speed we’re aiming for, and we believe we will be able to provide it as network and device technology evolves.
What can you say about Ooredoo’s plans to deploy fiber optic networks across Qatar and what are the next steps in this initiative in terms of deployments?
The initial rollout of Ooredoo Fiber in 2013 set the record as the fastest rollout in the world, and we’ve continued to extend the reach of fiber into new areas, to boost the knowledge-based economy and enable customers to access the financial, educational and social services the Internet can provide.
We currently reach about 350,000 homes across Qatar, and – when it is completed – the next phase of fiber expansion will position Qatar among the top five countries in the world in terms of fiber penetration.
What are your spectrum assets for the provisioning of mobile services?
Ooredoo was the first and only company to combine 20+10 MHz bands on its 4G+ network in Qatar, enabling Ooredoo to reach higher maximum top speeds and offer Ooredoo customers faster on-average Internet speeds.
Now, we’re in the process of aggregating spectrum across three bands to deliver another evolution in speed and performance for Qatar’s mobile Internet.
