During the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, the telecom service providers Ooredoo Qatar QPSC and Vodafone Qatar PQSC have provided consumers with high-quality mobile telecom service as affirmed by the Communications Regulatory Authority (CRA).
The average daily voice calls volume made within the State of Qatar reached about 44 million minutes per day, with a success rate of 99.8%, according to the relevant indicators during the Group stages. The average daily data usage within the country reached about 2,866 terabytes (TB) with an average download speed of 304 Megabits per second (Mbps) and an average upload speed of 20.8 Mbps on the Fifth Generation (5G) networks, in terms of mobile data.
High-quality mobile telecom services were available to fans in all eight World Cup stadiums. The average daily voice calls from the stadiums crossed 1 million minutes, with a success rate of about 99.9%, according to the indicators.
The data usage reached 20 TB per match, with an average download speed of 355 Mbps and 63 Mbps on the upload from the 5G network. At Al Bayt stadium, on the tournament opening day, over 50 TB of data usage was recorded, on November 20, 2022.
CRA has also deployed probes in multiple locations in all stadiums for monitoring the Quality of Service (QoS) from the user perspective in real-time during the matches. The probes recorded download speeds that reached around 1.5 Gigabits per second (Gbps) and upload speeds of 183 Mbps with 10 milliseconds latency on the 5G network. The Mean Opinion Score (MOS) for voice calls made to and from the stadiums, averaged 4.3 out of 5 according to the probes, which indicates excellent voice call quality according to relevant scale.
To ensure the development of the highest standard telecom networks and infrastructures, CRA develops proper regulatory instruments, grants the telecom Service Providers the necessary licenses, determines the necessary obligations on them, and monitors their compliance with these obligations. CRA amended Annexure “G” (related to Network Rollout and Coverage Obligations), which is part of telecom Service Providers’ licenses, in December 2021.
Moreover, CRA released additional spectrum which totals 1,000 MHz to each Service Provider for 5G network, with the aim of ensuring that mobile telecom consumers have an enhanced experience during the tournament. CRA expresses its gratitude to the telecom Service Providers for their investments in improving their infrastructure in the State of Qatar and for their eagerness to adopt the use of latest technologies, which aided in the provision of high-quality mobile telecom services to consumers during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
