Minister of Communications and Information Technology H E Mohammed bin Ali Al Mannai has approved the amendments made by the Communications Regulatory Authority (CRA) to Annexure “G” (related to Network Rollout and Coverage Obligations), which is part of Ooredoo Qatar and Vodafone Qatar licenses for the provision of public mobile telecommunications networks and services.
The CRA made these amendments to enhance its role related to enhancing the consumers’ experience by improving the performance of mobile telecom networks and the quality of services provided to the consumers, and further facilitating the availability of the Fifth Generation (5G) technology across Qatar.
With the mentioned amendments, CRA will release an additional spectrum for 5G networks in 3.5 GHz and 26 GHz to the Service Providers and the quantum of spectrum can reach up to 1000 MHz bandwidth depending on the Service Providers’ demand.
In this context, CRA becomes one of the first regulators in the world to assign this quantum of spectrum to a telecom Service Provider for 5G network.
The additional bandwidth contributes to enhancing the capacity of the network and improving the experience of the telecom consumers in terms of the speed on the 5G network, where this year, the network will cover all major cities in Qatar and all venues associated with the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
The 5G networks better support emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT), which contributes to the sustainable development of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector and other sectors linked with these technologies.
The CRA also plans to assign telecom Service Providers an additional bandwidth by 2023 for 5G services, this will contribute to improving the 5G network coverage in Qatar to reach 99% by 2024, with a minimum download speed of 100 Mbps.
The amendments will empower the 5G technology to access various advanced services that enhance video and immersive media for households and businesses.
The Service Providers will have all adequate resources to use the 5G technology to its full potential to drive Qatar’s digital revolution and cater across many vertical industries, such as manufacturing, health, automotive, and media.
CRA ensures the availability of reliable and high-quality telecom services to all consumers in Qatar by developing proper regulatory instruments to ensure the development of the highest standard telecom networks and infrastructures, granting the necessary licenses to telecom Service Providers, determining the necessary obligations on them, and conducting an extensive annual mobile networks quality of service audit to ensure that the quality of telecom services provided are in line with the key performance indicators, the terms and conditions of their licenses, and the applicable regulatory framework.