National unity: Vodafone joins Qtel in new Q.NBN agreement

Private/public venture Qatar National Broadband Network (Q.NBN) and Vodafone Qatar have signed an interim wholesale agreement to enable the latter to use the former’s planned passive fibre-optic high speed network to deliver telecoms services to customers. The new agreement, reported by Gulf Times, follows closely behind an Infrastructure Access Agreement between national incumbent telco Qatar Telecom (Qtel) and Q.NBN which enables the state-sponsored shared venture to access Qtel’s network infrastructure including ducts as well as other passive telecoms infrastructure over the next 20 years, according to CommsUpdate. Under the interim wholesale agreement, Vodafone will initially provide broadband services to residential and business customers in Barwa City and Barwa Commercial Avenue. Q.NBN CEO Mohamed al-Mannaisaid: ‘This close collaboration will bring high speed broadband connectivity to the country, enhancing the quality of life for people in Qatar [and] giving Qatar businesses the competitive edge they need to make Qatar a truly connected nation in line with [the government’s] ICT Strategy 2015.’