Vodafone Yet to Start Operations, Already Having Effect
Vodafone is yet to start operations in Qatar, although it has already started registering its first 1000 customers, but its impending arrival is making waves.
Qtel, which has already lowered prices since it was announced that it would face competition, will not be happy to hear that Vodafone intends to compete on price as well as on service.
Users, who often have to wait for an hour just to get a reply from Qtel's operators, were always going to choose the new operator when it came to service, but many assumed that Vodafone would charge more than the incumbant operator.
The move was let out of the bag not by Vodafone but by ICT director William P Fagan, according to a story in the Tribune yesterday.
Trial Period
While Vodafone will not begin full operations until the summer, the company is hoping to begin a trial period in March.
Initially the company will be using Qtel's network but will ultimately move on to using its own network.
Qtel Upgrade?
In the meantime Qtel is choosing to get ready for the competition by upgrading its equipment.
The company has chosen to use Digitech technology to try and improve voice quality on its phones.
Improvement Needed
According to a story in Networked News improvement is certainly needed.
Al Jazeera, the Qatar based news station which has been innovative in using social networking on the internet to reach out to users across the world and bypass US censhorship, complains that it has been held back by Qtel technology.
The national telephone operator blocks some of the live streaming technology which the Al Jazeera needs - meaning that on occassion the station has even popped over the border to Saudi Arabia, which it said was more open.
“If you say to a group of citizen journalists, be the eyes of Al Jazeera, and the first thing that happens is QTEL blocks them, even if there’s a way around it, it’s not good for anybody,” said one spokesman.
Hopefully the arrival of Vodafone will put an end to that.
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