Qtel signals 50,000 mobile broadband milestone

Qatar Telecom (Qtel) has announced that it expects to reach the milestone of 50,000 mobile broadband subscribers on its 3.5G network within the next week. TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database says that although Qtel launched 3G W-CDMA services in July 2006 and a 3.5G HSDPA upgrade in December 2007, it did not launch mobile broadband internet packages for laptop/PC users until early 2008, with a HSUPA upload boost following in the first quarter of 2009. Qtel says the popularity of the service took off significantly when it launched a pre-paid mobile broadband option in December 2009. The company claims users can expect to receive actual internet speeds ranging from 1Mbps to 3Mbps, depending on their proximity to a Qtel 3G tower.