DOHA: Ooredoo announced yesterday that the first commercial 5G network in the world has now reached 50 sites in Qatar.

Since Ooredoo announced it was the first operator in the world to launch a 5G network commercially in May, the company has invested heavily in rolling-out the next-generation technology to ensure Qatar is at the forefront of 5G developments and the 5G ecosystem. Thanks to this latest milestone some of Qatar’s most populated areas in Doha are now 5G enabled, meaning a huge number of Ooredoo customers and businesses will be able to instantly access the 5G network when devices become available.

As well as investing in the 5G roll-out, Ooredoo is thoroughly testing a batch of the first-ever live 5G home broadband devices.

The 25 devices in Qatar are being tested on Ooredoo’s 5G network to ensure the performance is seamless in various use-cases before being made available to customers. So far, the company has announced the new 5G home broadband devices will work on both the Ooredoo 4G and 5G network and can achieve speeds of up to 2 Gbps, 20 times the speeds of Ooredoo’s 100Mbps fibre.

Waleed Al Sayed, Chief Executive Officer, Ooredoo Qatar, said: “As the countdown to 2022 has begun, we need to ensure that Qatar is ready ahead of time, in all sectors. As a proud Qatari company, we are preparing our network now so that it can seamlessly serve our country and people, and the thousands of expected visitors. 5G will enable our customers to download movies in seconds, stream VR gaming experiences like never before and open up a world of smart technology”.

“We’re working tirelessly to reach the 100 5G sites milestone, and we’re pushing the 5G Home Broadband device to its limit, to make sure it’s 5G ready and Qatar worthy,” added Waleed Al Sayed.

Ooredoo’s 5G network roll-out will have a hugely positive impact on many business sectors and organisations in Qatar. Most noticeably, 5G serves as the next step in network evolution, as it has much higher speeds and capacity, and extreme low latency. Ooredoo 5G will enable new types of applications like driverless cars and smart roads, the connection of millions of low powered connected devices, Augmented Reality and much more.