Ooredoo announced that the company is the first operator in the world to launch a live 5G network on the 3.5GHz spectrum band within the Doha city.
The first Ooredoo 5G RAN site came on air just days after Ooredoo’s new 5G Commercial Core Network was activated.
Ooredoo claims that the 5G network is the first commercially available 5G network in the world and is an important technological breakthrough for the telecommunications industry worldwide.
The first stage of Ooredoo’s 5G Supernet deployment will cover an area from The Pearl Qatar to Hamad International Airport, with Lagoona, Katara Cultural Village, West Bay, the Corniche and Souq Waqif also included in the initial commercial launch coverage area.
The Ooredoo 5G service offers the latest network technology (5G NR) meaning much higher speeds, capacity, and better latency, than existing cellular systems. The new network will bring advantages over the previous generations of cellular technology and will enable business and consumer customers to unlock more of their potential and explore opportunities that were simply not possible before 5G.
In becoming the first company in the world to deploy commercial 5G, Ooredoo has built upon an impressive number of earlier milestones, including the first-in-the-region trials of 5G on Qatar National Day in 2016, the completion of 10 5G-ready base stations in May 2017, and the launch of the 5G Business services trial in partnership with Qatar Airways in November 2017.
Access to the Ooredoo 5G Supernet will require a 5G compatible device from Ooredoo. The company has announced that this is just the beginning of the Ooredoo 5G network, which will continue to be expanded over the coming months to cover even more areas of Qatar.
In an email clarification to The Fast Mode on whether 5G end user devices are already available in the market, Ooredoo said, "We’re waiting for manufacturers to start producing mobile devices. Once these devices are produced, we’ll make them available for immediate use, as our networks are well ahead with readiness. We are already able to use the 5G network on specially adapted tech such as drones."
Waleed Al Sayed, CEO, Ooredoo Qatar, and Deputy CEO, Ooredoo Group
This network will provide the necessary foundation to introduce a wave of new innovations, including driverless cars and smart roads, virtual and augmented reality, a national fleet of service drones, and much more.
