Ooredoo Qatar, in partnership with Huawei and Nokia, has demonstrated its 5G speed and latency capabilities in laboratory conditions, announcing the completion of trials which achieved speeds of up to 35.46Gbps, representing a regional first, according to Ooredoo officials quoted by The Peninsula. The operator also promised further 5G technology demonstrations with Nokia in the coming days, including next-generation virtual reality and robotic applications. In addition, Ooredoo says it will share the result of its trials with global partners to contribute to international agreements on standards and spectrum necessary to support the global launch of 5G services. Ooredoo’s trial results will also help the development of 5G-ready equipment and devices.
Ooredoo Qatar said in March 2016 that the first stages of its 5G network will be deployed by 2018, leading to 5G services being commercially available by 2020, ‘as soon as it is standardised’. Earlier, in November 2015 Ooredoo Group and Sweden’s Ericsson signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for 5G development ‘with the ambition of developing use cases, requirements and deployment scenarios for 5G technologies’.