Qatar regulator the Communications Regulatory Authority (CRA) has announced that it has opened access to more than 4,860 kilometres of government telecom duct infrastructure across Qatar.
This move forms part of CRA’s broader regulatory mandate to optimise the use of national telecom assets, enable licensed service providers to scale their networks more efficiently, and support the delivery of high-quality digital services to homes and businesses.
The CRA says the initiative also reflects CRA’s strategic objective to promote fair and open access to essential telecom infrastructure – reducing duplicate deployments, improving investment efficiency, and accelerating the rollout of next-generation technologies such as fibre to the home (FTTH) and 5G.
Delivered in collaboration with the country’s Public Works Authority (Ashghal), the infrastructure spans 60 projects and covers over 40,000 residential, commercial, and government premises nationwide. The rollout is governed by a 2014 memorandum of understanding (MoU) between CRA and Ashghal, which formalised planning, construction and transfer protocols.
This isn’t a new concept. In fact it seems that, to date, more than 15,500 premises have been connected via the CRA-managed government telecom duct infrastructure. Operator Ooredoo has utilised 468 kilometres of ducts to serve 2,010 consumers' premises, while another operator, Vodafone Qatar, has deployed 251 kilometres to connect 1,150 of its consumers.
CRA oversees access to the network through its Duct Management System (DMS), a geographic information systems (GIS)-based digital platform that facilitates real-time capacity visibility, application processing, and coordination for network extensions. This, says CRA, ensures transparency, efficiency, and alignment with national infrastructure policy.
