F.P. Report
KARACHI: Vodafone Qatar and Huawei have entered into a strategic agreement to significantly expand and enhance Vodafone’s wireless network infrastructure including a large-scale 5G technology rollout. This agreement will see two industry leaders at the forefront of digital innovation come together to accelerate the digital transformation of Qatar to meet the country’s economic growth targets and national agenda. The landmark agreement was signed on Thursday at Vodafone Qatar’s Headquarters by Vodafone Qatar’s Chairman Mr Abdulla Nasser Al Misnad and Mr. Charles Yang, the President of Huawei Middle East. Also present were both companies senior management.
Commenting on the agreement, Vodafone Qatar’s Chairman Mr Abdulla Nasser Al Misnad, said: “Vodafone Qatar is proud to be laying the ground for future technologies that will support Qatar and its vision to be a leader in the development of smart cities and digital economies of the world. We are delighted to further develop our partnership with Huawei, who has been the front-runner in terms of innovation related to their early role in the standardisation of 5G technologies globally. The planned expansion and enhancement of our wireless network will place it in the ranks of the best in the world.”
Vodafone Qatar’s CEO Sheikh Hamad Abdulla Al Thani, added: “Vodafone Qatar’s wireless network to date has offered Vodafone Qatar’s customers a world class service that’s leading on speed, quality and availability on both data and voice. This new agreement with Huawei will further accelerate the transformation in adoption of the new generation of technology such as 5G technology and Internet of Things that will support the applications for smart cities, artificial intelligence and others.”
President of Huawei Middle East, Charles Yang, said: “We are glad to see Vodafone in the first wave of 5G rollout globally. Huawei is committed to working with Vodafone to drive digital innovation, take advantage of 5G large-scale commercial rollout best results, and together build a mature 5G ecosystem that thrives on shared success and promotes social progress along the way. Early proliferation of 5G is vital to building the digital economy in Qatar. Huawei will ensure providing its end-to-end 5G solutions in Qatar, utilizing the best experiences and practices out of working in over 170 countries worldwide.”
Since switching on its 5G network in August last year and receiving the spectrum license to operate 5Gcommercially from the Communications Regulatory Authority in January this year, Vodafone Qatar has already deployed 5G in dozens of locations across the country and marked several milestones. Last week, the company announced that it made 5G technology commercially available to its customers with the launch of – Vodafone Giga Home- the latest innovation in home internet solutions. Recently, the Company also made the first live 5G call using a 5G handset and the first live 5G holographic call in the region.
5G offers the ‘real time’ connectivity to power ‘smart devices’ of all kinds. This opens up a whole host of new capabilities in gaming, virtual reality and augmented reality applications.5G technology will also help unlock the enormous potential of Internet of Things (IoT) that will drive economic benefit and improve livelihoods. This includes smart cities in which self-driving cars interact with traffic systems and connected homes seamlessly control temperature and energy – the benefits of 5G technology are endless.
