Qatar Telecom

The Supreme Council of Information and Communications Technology (ictQATAR) today announced the issuing of the Telecommunications Executive By-Law No. (1) of 2009, published in the Qatari Official Gazette and effective from 26 July 2009.

The Telecommunications Executive By-Law includes regulatory procedures, rules and instructions that must be followed by telecommunications service providers in Qatar, including licensees such as Qatar Telecom (QTel) QSC and Vodafone Qatar QSC.

Vodafone Qatar, which has outlined a capital expenditure of QR2bn in the next 10 years, aims to become profitable by 2011 and shareholders could expect dividends only by 2013.
“In our prospectus (on the Initial Public Offering), we have stated that our capital expenditure will be QR2bn over 10 years time,” said John Tombleson, CFO of Vodafone, whose 340mn free-float shares are available for trading from today.
Vodafone Qatar shares with face value of QR10 will start trading from today and on the first day it can be traded in any price range, whereas from the second day onwards, a 10% band is applicable, as is for other listed companies.

Source: arabianbusiness. com
The Top 50 ranks the top publicly traded companies listed on the stock exchanges of the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait and Jordan,

Click on a company name for the full financial profile of that company. All prices are in USD.

# COMPANY COUNTRY INDUSTRY MARKET CAP
1 Saudi Basic Industries Corporation Saudi Arabia Plastic and PVC 36.48 Billion

2 Saudi Telecom Company Saudi Arabia Fixed Line Operators 23.46 Billion

3 Al Rajhi Bank - Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia Asset Management 22.30 Billion

4 Emirates Telecommunications Corporation UAE Fixed Line Operators 19.86 Billion

5 Industries Qatar Qatar Primary Mining 12.69 Billion

6 Samba Financial Group - Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia Asset Management 11.66 Billion

Qtel launches ‘collect call’ service
Web posted at: 5/14/2009 1:29:1
Source ::: THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Even with zero credit Hala subscribers at Qatar Telecom (Qtel) can call Hala or Shahry customers with the launching of Qtel Collect Call Service yesterday.

Interconnection Service Charges Determined Interconnection of telecommunications networks allows users of these networks to communicate with each other.

The interconnection service charges comprise the costs of the interconnection service, including the cost for terminating a call or an SMS on a network. These interconnection charges must not be confused with the retail charges which are paid by the customer to their telecommunications service provider for a service or subscription.

Subscribers to the Vodafone IPO will have the opportunity to choose the service provider’s mobile number free of charge and avail of two call packages during a promotion period.

Vodafone’s IPO is limited to Qataris and Qatari organisations. All Vodafone numbers start with ‘7’.
Customers will have about 1mn mobile phone numbers to choose from, Vodafone Qatar CEO Grahame Maher said.
However, shareholders who wish to select their own numbers have to pay a reservation fee starting from QR500. All numbers come at a fixed fee and a valid credit card is required to avail of the facility.
Each subscriber (individual or company) can reserve up to three numbers. The ‘free number promotion’ for IPO subscribers ends on May 31.

I consider Qtel to be one of the worst telecommunications service provider, if not in the world, at least in the entire Middle East region. In spite of making record profits by monopolizing the telecommunications sector in Qatar for over a period of 15 years, it's a fact they haven't done much to improve their services in Qatar. I’m sure, like me, there must be more than a hundred thousand customers of Qtel who are completely disgusted with their products and services.

Customers May Experience Limited Disruption in April, as Speed and Reliability are Enhanced
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Qatar is set to benefit from an advanced upgrade to its national Internet network this year, as Qtel continues to implement its “Broadband Qatar” strategy.

Speed, reliability and penetration are all set to improve as a result of the upgrade, which will involve the deployment of a range of new technologies, as well as physical and technical improvements to the network of cables and hubs that support the Internet in Qatar, both domestically and internationally.