Ooredoo has started building ‘5G-Ready’ network for Qatar

If you thought 4G Internet was the future of communication, then it is time you started thinking again.

It was not very long ago when Ooredoo conducted it’s first 5G trials in Qatar, which in itself was a first for a country from the Gulf region.

The tests, which were held in a 5G laboratory in partnership with Nokia and Huawei, achieved speeds of up to 35.46Gb/sec. It was dubbed as the ‘fastest mobile data service in the world today.’

While the speeds were incredible, the technology to make it available to common man was not expected to roll around for at least another few years.

However, if indications are true, then 5G is a lot closer than any of us had anticipated.

Yesterday, Ooredoo announced that it was building a ‘5G-ready’ network, having added a 10th base station equipped with 5G-ready technology over the weekend, reported Gulf Times.

It is understood that the new technology will be available to customers by the end of this year.

“If you look at the history of our network, Ooredoo has always been a regional pioneer, ensuring that the people of Qatar enjoy the best network and fastest data experience. By creating a 5G-ready network, we believe we’ll be among the first operators in the world to offer incredible 5G speed and services for all our customers,” Ooredoo Qatar’s Chief Executive Officer Waleed Mohammed Ebrahim Al Sayed was quoted as saying by The Peninsula.

“We hope to have 5G speeds available by the end of the year and we’re already looking to collaborate with partners to ensure that a full range of 5G-ready devices and smartphones will be available for Ooredoo customers in Qatar,” he added.

With the addition of the 10th base station, Ooredoo has successfully passed another ‘important technology milestone.’

The company has already started reducing the latency of its network towards 1ms — the standard specified by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) as the proposed baseline for next generation 5G technology.

In addition, Ooredoo has ensured that it has sufficient bandwidth by deploying the world’s most advanced fibre network using the latest GPON technology.