LTE booming across Middle East

Details: James Barton; Category: Wireless Networks; 11 October 2011; 12276 views

With LTE launches in Saudi Arabia and the UAE underway by operators such as Mobily, Etisalat and STC, others – including Qatari QTel and UAE-based Du – are now joining the fray...

With LTE launches in Saudi Arabia and the UAE underway by operators such as Mobily, Etisalat and STC, others – including Qatari QTel and UAE-based Du – are now joining the fray.

While Du aims to have LTE services available by year-end 2011, QTel’s offering is being deployed immediately, via a nationwide network featuring 900 base stations. The launch follows on from successful trials in July.

QTel COO Waleed Al Sayed commented: “Qtel continues to invest in the Broadband Qatar strategy, which aims to provide one of the fastest, most reliable broadband networks in the world to the people of Qatar. Following a comprehensive study of LTE technology, we are now positioned to build the largest 4G network in Qatar, offering the fastest speeds and most comprehensive coverage.”

Coverage will initially be focused in more developed population centres such as Doha, but will spread throughout Qatar via a cooperation initiative with several device manufacturers, which will facilitate the spread of affordable 4G-capable devices throughout the country.

The service itself will offer download speeds of up to 15Mbps on mobile devices, and it will support WiFi offloading, allowing customers to switch smoothly from the standard service to hotspots in order to ease demand during peak hours.

Meanwhile, UAE-based Du is conscious of matching its rival Etisalat’s service. Hatem Bamatraf, the firm’s network development VP, stated: “Hopefully, we will launch LTE before year end; if it will be delayed it will be maximum a month.” The operator has reached an agreement with Huawei and Nokia Siemens Networks, but has not revealed the extent of its investment.