Minister of Transport and Communications H E Jassim bin Saif Al Sulaiti (centre) with other officials at QNBN Headquarters yesterday. Pic: Abdul Basit / The Peninsula
Doha: Minister of Transport and Communications H E Jassim bin Saif Al Sulaiti inaugurated yesterday the Network Operations Center (NOC) of Qatar National Broadband Network (QNBN) at the headquarters of QNBN.
NOC aims at monitoring the fiber optic networks to ensure uninterrupted high-quality Internet services across the country enabling a quick response to any disruption in service in case of emergency.
“QNBN laid high-quality fiber optic network stretching 3,000km covering ministries, governmental organisations, security agencies and other firms that joined the network,” said Minister of Transport and Communications while speaking to media-persons on the sidelines of the inaugural ceremony.
He said that the move is part of a major project to provide a complete telecommunication infrastructure which was required for Qatar smart city project.
“We are very proud of opening NOC which covered Qatar completely with fiber optic network enabling a quick response to network disruption in any emergency situation which was the main purpose behind establishing QNBN,” said the Minister. He said that QNBN is owned by Qatar Investment Authority.
“QNBN network coverage has reached different regions of the country to cover 95 percent of the country’s area and 100 percent of the populated areas, increasing the number of fiber optics to more than 3,000km,” said Dr Eng. Ahmed Al Sulaiti, CEO of QNBN. He said that through this coverage, the company was able to meet the requirements of different parties by connecting the fiber network to the required buildings within 48 hours.
“We are supporting all strategic companies like petroleum companies and those with sensitive networks,” said Al Sulaiti, adding that QNBN offers services at very affordable prices to the firms with private network if they wanted to move to very high secure network.
He said that the company was established by a government initiative to establish a government network to avoid duplication in telecommunication infrastructure and to provide the suitable prices for the operators and under high standards of quality, safety and continuity within Qatar National Vision 2030.
He added, the company has developed the strategies to implement the initiative to the fullest and reach the satisfaction of its customers with high quality, continuity and sustainability. “In line with Qatar Vision 2030, our network directly supports the health, education, government and security sectors as well as the telecommunications sector in general, allowing high speeds of service to allow the use of all current and future applications.
As well as to reach the goal of smart cities,” he added.
Al Sulaiti said that QNBN has achieved savings in to the country’s budget by avoiding duplication of networks, implementing the unified Government network strategy and optimizing the utilization of government resources and investments.
“In support to the national economy, QNBN contributes to the growth of national income by 3 to 5 percent per annum, allowing all companies to benefit from the infrastructure provided by QNBN,” he added.
