Ooredoo Launches Qatar's First 5G+ Mobile Network
The operator says the network is commercially available through mobile broadband, with reliability aimed at AI workloads and wider industrial IoT support.
Tariq Benali Tariq Benali covers business and corporate news across the UAE and MENA for Anecdoted, tracking the deals, leadership moves and regulatory shifts behind the region's companies. tariq@anecdoted.com
Ooredoo Qatar has launched the country's first 5G+ mobile network, the company said on Thursday, extending an infrastructure it has rebuilt in stages since it introduced 5G in 2018.
The network layers two standards together. 5G standalone runs on a core built specifically for 5G instead of depending on older 4G equipment, and 5G Advanced is an evolution of the technology rather than a new generation. Ooredoo says the combination supports digital applications that put heavier demands on a mobile network than earlier systems could carry.
Standalone cores handle the functions that keep sessions running, including authentication and traffic routing, without falling back to 4G systems. Keeping that work inside the 5G core is what makes consistent low latency possible.
The promised gains are faster speeds, more capacity and lower latency. More devices can connect and exchange information at once, and shorter response times let applications such as real-time equipment monitoring and automated processes run over the mobile network.
Where 5G+ is available
The network has been deployed at several locations around Qatar. It is commercially available through mobile broadband in the areas the footprint covers.
Availability is the constraint businesses will weigh first. 5G+ is sold through mobile broadband, so a site has to sit inside the covered zones to use it.
For business customers the pitch is reliability. Ooredoo says the network supports AI-enabled services and complex digital workloads that need a connection to hold steady under load.
The Internet of Things side covers industrial sensors, asset trackers and utility meters. Ooredoo lists those device types as the basis for automation and intelligent operations, and as groundwork for smart city services.
What the chief executive said
Sheikh Ali bin Jabor bin Mohammad Al Thani, chief executive of Ooredoo Qatar, said the launch reflects the company's continued investment in the country's digital future, which he said depends on infrastructure that is ready for what comes next.
He placed the rollout in a sequence: a 5G network in 2018 that Ooredoo describes as the world's first, then Qatar's first 5G standalone core network, and now 5G+. The latest step, he said, is meant to support the next generation of digital services across Qatar.
Quantum-safe link
In May, Ooredoo Qatar established the country's first quantum-safe communications link with Hamad Bin Khalifa University and the Ministry of Defense. Implemented on Ooredoo's dark-fiber network, it demonstrated secure key generation and distribution across multiple fiber-link distances.
Group rankings
Ooredoo Group ranked 43rd in a 2026 ranking of the region's 100 most valuable companies. Aziz Aluthman Fakhroo, managing director and group chief executive of Ooredoo, ranked 41st on a 2026 list of the region's top 100 chief executives.
