Qatar Telecom (Qtel), the telecommunication service provider in the state of Qatar has just signed an agreement with telecom gear vendor, Nokia Siemens Network (NSN), to install a complete network modernization project that can offer high speed, mobile broadband service in Qatar.

NSN has been associating with Qtel from 1994 and the agreement as stated by the company is for a value of US$61 million.
 
With its presence in 16 countries, Qtel is committed to expanding both in the MENA region and South East Asia. It has been offering landlines, mobile (GSM), internet and Data services, and also cable TV services for the home, business, and corporate sectors.
 
The current partnership with NSN allows the company to optimize its nationwide 2G and 3G networks and in offering advanced network infrastructure.
 
“Today’s announcement of this significant upgrade to Qatar’s mobile network infrastructure brings us an important step closer to the realization of our vision to deliver the world’s most advanced communication solutions to everyone in Qatar,” said Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Bin Saud Al-Thani, chairman of Qtel.
 
Abdullah also mentioned that Qtel will work with NSN to ensure that the highest quality of experience and the latest services are made available for its customers.
 
The current agreement will also allow NSN to deploy an energy-efficient radio access solution, based on a Flexi Base Station, which will offer Qtel significant savings in power consumption, allowing Qtel to go green.
 
Additionally, NSN will also be offering both technical and business consultancy, site preparation, field activities and network operations support.
 
The new and enhanced infrastructure is based upon a circuit-switch core network capacity expansion and a packet core network swap based on the Flexi ISN solution for optimized data traffic.
 
The enhanced and optimized network infrastructure will offer uninterrupted and enhanced mobile broadband service, as well as allow Qtel to continue to deliver its range of product enhancements and upgrades to customers across Qatar.
 
“This is an important deal for us as it strengthens our collaboration and commitments with an industry leader such as Qtel,” said Christoph Caselitz , chief market operations officer at Nokia Siemens Networks.
 
“As a significant regional operator, with tremendous expansion potential, Qtel is one of our key customers. We are very pleased that it has recognized Nokia Siemens Networks  as a reliable supplier, and we’re ready to offer our best-in-class technologies in line with Qtel’s long-term plans to provide superior quality to their customers,” said Qais Esrawee, head of the “Qtel group” Customer Business Team for Nokia Siemens Networks.
 
As per the terms of the agreement, Nokia Siemens Networks will also be providing Qtel with NetAct Global Reporter for collecting, processing and visualizing network performance information and NetAct Optimizer for enhancing service quality for Qtel customers and increasing efficiency of the optimization processes.

Source:TMCnet