Qatar Telecom (Qtel) yesterday announced it will be activating its two millionth mobile conection within the next two weeks. The company revealed it has readied prizes for customers who sign up for either a ‘Hala’ or ‘Shahry’ mobile account starting today to celebrate this milestone. Qtel said it will give a “special mystery prize” to its two-millionth mobile subscriber and will give away a total of QR500,000 worth of prizes to 100 lucky customers who activate new mobile account numbers over the next two weeks. Dr Nasser Marafih, Qtel’s Chief Executive Officer, said the company is very proud of this milestone. “We are delighted to be reaching this new record … Our achievement in building this company, even in an era of increased competition, helps contribute to the ongoing growth and development of Qatar, and we are very pleased to share this success with the people…,” said Marafih. Qtel has installed a monitoring equipment to alert them the moment the two-millionth account number is activated. Any customer who signs up for either a ‘Shahry’ – Pay Monthly or ‘Hala’ Pay As You Talk — plan over the next week is eligible for the draw. Qtel reported having around 1.8 million mobile subscribers in March this year. With Qatar’s official population at 1.65 million in May, according to the Qatar Statistics Authority, the two million customer figure represents an impressive penetration rate of 121 percent, one of the highest in the world. The company has recently launched new mobile services for its customers which include Shahry’s “One Free Number,” which means customers can choose one number they can call for free, and its Qtel SmartRoamer, which provides standardised local call rates for people wherever they travel. “Our Two Millionth Customer competition is our way of thanking our subscribers for their ongoing interest and support,” said Marafih. Mohammad Al Hamad, a Public Relations Officer who has more than three Qtel numbers including ‘Hala’ and ‘Shahry’, said he plans to obtain more numbers to join Qtel’s Two-Millionth Customer competition. “Nowadays, people can buy more than two Qtel numbers because, for one, a Hala number only costs QR 50 and, on the other hand, Qtel has more offers, more promotions and the price schemes for their post-paid plans, like Shahry, are very competitive,” said Al Hamad. Khalid Al Ghanem, a student who has around 16 Qtel numbers to his name, on the other hand, said he doesn’t really care much about the Two Millionth Customer competition, but will buy more numbers if Qtel has more special numbers to offer. Qtel hasn’t revealed the prizes it will give to the 100 customers to be picked through the draw. However, the company spokesperson said the ‘mystery prize’ for the two-millionth subscriber will be special. http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&subsection=Qatar+News&month=June2009&file=Local_News2009062821946.xml

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