Qtel highlighted its expansion plans and improvement of their wireless network quality today.
Qtel recently conducted an audit of its wireless telecommunications network. The audit was conducted by the global telecommunications consulting firm, LCC, who have performed technical services for leading telecom providers around the world like Vodafone, Nokia, Orange, etc. In the case of Qtel, the company has investigated issues such as adequacy of coverage, call-setup success rates, the frequency of call dropouts, voice quality, etc. LCC's independent assessment of Qtel's wireless network was validated from a customer perceived Quality of Service (QOS).
Qtel CEO Dr. Nasser Marafih said, "At Qtel, we are proud of the advances we have made," Dr. Marafih said. "With the results of this audit, our customers can now see that an independent, expert third party has verified our progress in wireless networks based on customer perception.
"The audit has also identified areas which need further improvement. In the last few years, we have enhanced our GSM/GPRS network to provide additional capacity, major platform expansions and deployed a range of new services and technologies to excite and delight our customers.
"Qtel has spent around QR.800 million to date on the GSM network and in the coming 2 to 3 years, we have committed an additional QR.800m to further upgrade our network.
"The audit will help us prioritise those areas which require most attention. Qtel's customers will benefit directly from this study: they will see results in better wireless services. We plan to conduct similar audits with a customer perceived QOS for Qtel's complete technical infrastructure so as to improve our telephone, Internet and data services," Dr. Marafih continued.
Marcel Daoud, Managing Director of LCC Middle East said, "Many of the services provided by Qtel are on par with international standards and the results of the audit show that Qtel's network is first class.
"By performing this audit, and that too from a customer point of view, highlights Qtel's commitment to providing first class services for their customers. Tests were done using the latest international technology, independent surveys and interviews.
The LCC network quality and benchmarking audit found that the Drop Call* rates stood at 0.76% (world-class standards: 2.36 to 0.37%) while the Call completion success rate was 99.24%, which is within the range of 97.60 to 99.63% of world-class standards.
Qtel's Voice Quality was rated a 3.76 score compared to world-class standard range of 3.4 to 4.1. Both Qtel's SMS success rate at 98.7% and SMS set up time at 7.47 seconds are well within world-class standards.
Qtel's GPRS network quality and benchmarking KPIs were equally positive with GPRS service success rates faring quite well when compared to world-class standards.
GPRS web page browsing success rate was at 90.18%, which is slightly less that the world-class standard of 94.00 to 97.54% while GPRS email stood at 92.08% (world-class standards: 81.82 to 93.55%).
Abdulaziz Fakhroo, Senior Manager of Qtel Wireless Networks said, "In the past decade, we have installed around 174 GSM sites in Qatar and we are planning to total the number of GSM sites to around 500, over the next five years. This highlights not only our expansion plans but also our commitment to improve the quality of the GSM network".
Shiekh Fahad Bin Jassim Al-Thani, Senior Manager of Qtel Wireless Marketing said," Through Qtel's constant search for improvements to the quality of the service we provide, we have built a 24 hour operational maintenance center to monitor our network quality with a dedicated maintenance team that continually performs regular site inspections.
"As well as improving our network quality, we are working on a range of new initiatives and have plans to roll out more product and service launches and platforms with the aim of bringing our customers closer through technology. Exciting projects include more Wireless value added services to boost the already massive growth in sales, the expansion of the GSM network and the commissioning of the 3G network, " Sheikh Fahad stated.
"We are working hard in so many ways, to improve services and taking huge strides to ensure that our customers have access to the latest products and services at competitive prices," Sheikh Fahad concluded.
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© Press Release 2005
