At a recent press event, Qtel signed an agreement to significantly boost Qatar’s telecommunications network within the region and the world.
Under the agreement, Qatar will have connectivity to a major submarine cable system known as FALCON, which is a new high-capacity resilient loop cable system that provides multiple landings throughout the Gulf region, with submarine links stretching from the Middle East to Egypt in the west and to India in the east.
Under the agreement, signed between Qtel and FLAG Telecom (the submarine cable providers for FALCON), Qtel has made a multi-million dollar investment to have access to the cable system for a period of 15 years.
Qtel CEO Dr. Nasser Marafih said, “Our agreement with FLAG Telecom today highlights our commitment to our customers to keep bringing them closer. FALCON will provide a major boost in strengthening our data, Internet and telephone services.
“FALCON is now the third submarine cable system for Qatar and we hope that it will help Qatar develop into one of the most connected broadband communities in the region. This is particularly important for Qatar as we gear up form meeting the technological demands for the Doha Asian Games in 2006.”
FALCON will be interconnected with other global submarine networks, including the existing FEA system and will bring resilient international broadband connectivity to the region. Interconnection with FLAG Europe-Asia at the Suez landing will provide regional operators with seamless connectivity to destinations on the FLAG global network, including locations in Europe, USA, Asia (Hong Kong, Tokyo, South Korea, Taiwan) and the Middle East.
FLAG Telecom President for Middle East and Africa, Walid Irshad said, “We are happy to be partnering with Qtel to provide a backbone to deliver advanced broadband services to Qatar.”
“FALCON will incorporate comprehensive protection mechanisms to ensure the highest level of network reliability for telecommunications users in Qatar.”
The FALCON network is being built and installed simultaneously at various sections using several submarine cable laying ships. Initial service for Qatar will commence by the first quarter of 2006 with full connectivity by June 2006.
To meet the forecast increased demand for broadband services in countries along the route, branching units have been added along the entire FALCON cable route to allow additional countries to connect to the system as their communications needs continue to expand.
Qtel Executive Director of Wireline Services, Khalil Al Emadi said, “Financially FALCON is the best solution available to meet Qtel’s needs and will provide operational, technical freedom and independency. It will allow us to fully diversify our international needs and put us in a position to offer Service Level Agreements (SLA) to major corporate and government entities in Qatar who rely on hi-tech applications to run their systems.”
Qtel is the exclusive telecommunications provider in Qatar. Qtel’s principal activities include local and international telephony, mobile, data, Internet and cable television services. Our vision is aimed at a ‘customer first’ mindset; delivering compelling, high quality, cost effective products and services. We are undergoing an extensive transformation programme, Q-Turn, to develop our already advanced telecommunications network, to achieve world-class operational efficiency and seek international investment opportunities, as we work towards our goal of becoming the region’s premier telecommunications company.
