Qtel Group, which delivers services to over 89 million customers in MENA and Southeast Asia, will be representing the Middle East strongly as it unveils a large presence at this week’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
Its delegation will be led by Group Chairman H.E. Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Bin Saud Al Thani, and as well as including its Qatar-based Qtel team, will also include teams from Asiacell in Iraq, Indosat in Indonesia, Nawras in Oman, Nedjma in Algeria, Tunisiana in Tunisia, and Wataniya in Kuwait, the Maldives and Palestine.
Covering an area that is home to a young, rapidly-growing population, Qtel Group has been one of the leaders in providing mobile Internet access to people across the developing world.
Dr. Nasser Marafih, Group CEO of Qtel Group and Chairman of the GSMA Mobile for Development Foundation, will focus on the challenges and the lessons learned by the Group in his keynote presentation on “Connecting the Next Billions to the Internet”.
He will be joined on stage to tackle this challenging area by Gary Kovacs, CEO of Mozilla Corporation, Manoj Kohli, CEO and Joint MD of bharti airtel, and Stephen Elop, President and CEO of Nokia.
“Qtel Group believes that our services have the capability to enrich people’s lives,” Dr. Marafih said. “We will be focusing on the incredible social and human impact that communication services can deliver through our participation in Mobile World Congress this year, and outlining our bold plans for new initiatives that will benefit the communities that we serve.”
Qtel Group has initiated a major network modernisation programme with use of latest 3G technology (U900), and increased emphasis on Wi-Fi, resulting in improved indoor quality and a better mobile broadband data experience.
In Qatar, Qtel continues to install Qtel Fibre – a broadband fibre-optic network – across the country, and is preparing to commercially launch its 4G LTE mobile broadband network.
Nawras and Wataniya in Kuwait have recently launched 4G networks, and Asiacell and Nedjma are preparing their 2G networks to be upgraded to 3G once they receive the necessary government licenses.
The Qtel Group pavilion in Hall 2 of Fira Gran Via at the event has been designed to provide an insight into the full Qtel Group experience. The Group will also be showcasing its innovations and services at the Operator Village located in the Congress square of Fira Gran Via.
CNME Editor Ben Rossi is reporting live from Mobile World Congress. Follow updates at www.twitter.com/computernewsme and #MWC13.
