Executive summary
Qatar is a small and very wealthy nation in the Middle East. An abundance of natural resources has lifted GDP per capita levels to twice that of Kuwait. Some of this wealth was used to develop an extensive telecoms network, with a high proportion of households able to access fixed lines. Despite this, Qatar’s telecoms market holds much potential for development.
Qatar was the last country in the region to introduce competition to its telecoms market. New market entrant Vodafone Qatar has rapidly gained a sizeable share of the mobile market and is only now establishing a presence in the fixed market.
Broadband represents the majority of Internet connections. ADSL accounts for the majority of fixed broadband services, given the previous monopoly of Qtel in the market. Advertised broadband speeds are relatively low; Recognising the inherent opportunities in faster communications for social and economic development, Qatar is developing a national broadband network, promising speeds of up to 100Mb/s to 95% of households by 2015.
Faster broadband speeds will underpin future development of Qatar’s digital economy. Strategies and specific initiatives have been launched in the areas of e-commerce, e-government, e-health and e-education. The regulator has also unveiled plans to develop Qatar as a digital media hub, recognising the current underrepresentation of Arabic content on the Internet and hence potential for growth. Qatar seems a likely home for such an initiative, given its launch of the influential Arabic broadcaster Al Jazeera.
Similar to neighbouring markets in the region, Qatar possesses a mobile market characterised by high penetration levels. Competition has improved tariffs levels and encouraged development of specialised products targeted at specific market segments such as expatriate workers. Both mobile network operators Qtel and Vodafone have deployed 3G/HSPA networks which is supporting growth of the nascent mobile broadband market.
