Qatarnet, the mobile arm of Qatar Telecom (Q-Tel) has launched international GPRS roaming for post-paid subscribers. The company has signed deals with six networks to offer the service – Cingular and T-Mobile in the USA, Vodafone in the UK, Kuwait’s Wataniya Telecom, Nawras Telecom of Oman and the UAE’s Etisalat.
GlobalComms reports that Q-Tel invested QAR800 million (USD220 million) in the upgrade of its GSM network in 2005, as part of a bid to achieve 100% cellular penetration by the end of 2007. With the 2006 Asia Games being hosted in Doha, Qatarnet has fast tracked the launch of 3G services and hopes to roll out its UMTS network commercially by mid-2006.