Nokia has signed a five-year agreement with Qatar-based operator Ooredoo Group to provide advanced mobile broadband technologies and professional services across Ooredoo’s footprint in the Middle East, North Africa and Southeast Asia, the companies announced Monday.
The partnership, which renews and updates a previous agreement between the two companies, covers 2G, 3G, 4G and LTE Advanced technologies for voice and data services across Ooredoo’s service areas, according to a Nokia press release.
“We value our long-term partnership with Ooredoo, and are committed to helping it provide world-class voice and data services, and meet burgeoning data demand,” Nokia Networks EVP and CBO Ashish Chowdhary said. “With our latest innovations we will support Ooredoo to prepare for the huge data demand, and provide high-speed data services with improved network coverage, in addition to clearer voice call services to ensure the ultimate personal gigabyte experience.”
According to the release, Ooredoo sees agreements like the one signed with Nokia as a way to maintain a competitive edge. Thus far, the partnership has allowed Ooredoo to provide 4G+ services in Qatar and Kuwait, 4G services in Oman, Tunisia and the Maldives, and the first commercial 3G network in Algeria and Myanmar.
“Working with Nokia, Ooredoo has designed and built a range of leading-edge networks that enable us to enrich our customers’ lives,” Ooredoo COO Ahmed Al-Derbesti said. “This renewed framework agreement is significant, as it covers the delivery of all the latest technologies and support services helping us further enhance our network capacity and coverage.”
Under the new agreement, the terms and conditions have been altered to include “global best practices in terms of delivery and technology for the benefit of both companies.”
As part of their longstanding partnership, Ooredoo recently deployed Nokia’s high-capacity small cells in Qatar to improve 3G and 4G network performance. In 2014, the companies, in collaboration with China Mobile, demonstrated network speeds of 4.1 Gbps at ITU Telecom World by combining TDD- and FDD-LTE spectrums and aggregating 10 carriers with 200 MHz bandwidth.
