Vodafone Qatar marked yet another major communications technology milestone by making the region’s first local and international live mobile calls via a 5G handset powered by its GigaNet 5G network. This follows the region’s first live holographic call using 5G technology made by the Company at its annual Innovation Day.

H.E Jassim bin Saif Al Sulaiti, the Minister of Transport and Communications first called H.E Mr. Houlin Zhao, Secretary General of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), in the attendance of Communications Regulatory Authority President Mr. Mohamed Ali Al Mannai and Vodafone Qatar’s senior executives.

HE Al Sulaiti made the live call to Mr Zhao in Geneva from the National Museum of Qatar, giving the Secretary General of the ITU a taste of Qatar’s iconic new structure. Together they discussed the latest developments in 5G technologies and key priorities for supporting its roll out world-wide.

HE Al Sulaiti followed this by making a live 5G local call from the Museum to Vodafone Qatar’s Executives located in Katara Cultural Village, a location where Vodafone’s 5G network has been live since December last year and featured heavily in the country’s National Day celebrations.

The clarity and quality of the video and speed of connection give a clear indication of what customers in the country can expect from 5G once handsets become available later this year. The move further demonstrates how Vodafone Qatar is ideally placed to realise the transformative potential of 5G and deliver the country’s ambitious development aims thanks to the business’ technical know-how, strength of partnerships and digital expertise.

The calls mark the latest milestone in Vodafone Qatar’s rapidly expanding 5G roll out plans since switching on its 5G network in August last year andreceiving the spectrum license to operate 5G commercially from the Communications Regulatory Authority in January this year.

Commenting on the news, Vodafone Qatar’s CEO Sheikh Hamad Abdulla Al Thani said: “Today is another momentous day for Vodafone and Qatar. We’re proud to be leading the delivery of innovation in the country. This latest 5G milestone follows our extensive and continuous investment to date in supporting world-class infrastructure in Qatar as part of our commitment to move the country towards being one of the most digitally connected in the world. This transformative technology has the potential to improve our lives and we’re incredibly excited by all that it offers.”

The business has rapidly deployed 5G at dozens of sites in strategic locations around the country including Al Waab, Abu Hamour, Al Azizya, Al Mamoura, Al Rayyan, Salwa Road, Souq Waqif and Umm Salal Muhammed.

5G technology is much-anticipated and promises enormous advantages for consumers including ultra-fast speeds, low latency – the time taken to connect two devices – and more reliable network performance to give users a real-time, uninterrupted experience.

5G has been described as the dawn of a new and exciting digital life and a new way to experience the Internet. It’s faster, seamless, intelligent and will connect everyone and everything instantly. In doing so, 5G will unlock human potential and power breakthroughs for business that will fundamentally change the way we live and work.

Offering network speeds faster than the blink of an eye, users will be able to stream a major sporting event with no delay and download a full HD film in seconds. In addition, 5G supports a huge increase in traffic capacity and network efficiency. Users will be able to seamlessly stream content on busy networks like in stadiums or stations with almost zero wait time.

Perhaps most exciting of all, 5G offers the ‘real time’ connectivity to power ‘smart devices’ of all kinds. This will enable innovations such as driverless cars that interact with traffic systems and connected homes that effortlessly control climate and energy.

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Khadiza Begum

Content Writer

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