Vodafone Qatar to launch mobile services on 1 March, plans cable landing station

Vodafone Qatar, which is set to launch pre- and post-paid mobile services nationwide on 1 March, says it will establish an international cable landing station in the Middle East country. Vodafone Qatar chief executive officer Grahame Maher told Gulf Times: ‘We have identified some sites in coastal areas to locate Vodafone’s new international landing station in Qatar…to improve international access and redundancy in the country.’ Maher added, ‘There are several organisations looking to bring new cables to Qatar in a joint venture with our partners Qatar Foundation. Having Vodafone in Qatar improves the attractiveness of these cable ventures given the volume of our international traffic and size of our international footprint.’ Initially, the operator will be using the existing landing stations established by incumbent Qatar Telecom (Qtel). Fixed line and mobile licensee Vodafone Qatar plans to offer high speed internet and data communications to mobile customers from the outset.