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As Deputy Group CEO and CEO of Ooredoo Qatar up until end of 2022, Sheikh Mohammed steadfastly steered the company through the challenges of the pandemic and on to some of our greatest successes, including our record-breaking performance during FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™.
Under his leadership, Ooredoo was named the official Middle East and Africa telecommunications operator of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 – and FIFA Arab Cup Qatar 2021. The telco was tasked with delivering the first 5G-connected World Cup in just under 12 months’ time - which happened in a smashing success. Ooredoo made significant strategic investments in network development and new technologies to ensure that organisers, support organisations, media companies and fans at home and overseas would all enjoy robust connectivity services, enabling as many people as possible to enjoy every moment of every match.
Proper network capacity and resiliency throughout all network components — RAN, Core and Transport — was ensured for both national and international segments, and included full modernization of the core, with a sophisticated cloud core network in state-of-the-art data centers.
A major upgrade of outdoor radio sites with the latest 5G technology maximized country-level coverage, including stadiums, airports, rail networks, fan zones and other FIFA-related facilities. Capacity for fan zones and other event venues and hotspots was enhanced.
More than 1,130 multi-beam antennas connected over 355 km of RF cables and over 202 km of fiber optic, covering the eight stadiums and immediate surrounding areas with 4G and 5G. Mobile network services with 5,000+ cells, 1,500+ DOTs, TETRA services and a Wi-Fi backbone offered state-of-the-art 5G, 4G, 3G and 2G technologies at all eight stadiums.
Upgrades of Ooredoo’s National and International Transport IP links capacity, ensuring abundant bandwidth for internet connectivity with international servers for popular OTT applications. These upgrades also ensured the provision of high-quality voice calls and excellent roaming experience, enabling customers and broadcasters to stay connected with their international home destinations.
Customer experience measurement devices were deployed in stadiums and fan zones to monitor in real-time the main applications being used by fans and enable proactive real-time quality enhancements.
By offering a robust and reliable network, we were able to support high-bandwidth applications like live streaming, real-time data transmission and video calls, enabling fans and customers to stay connected and engaged with the action from anywhere in the world and enjoy an upgraded, fully immersive experience provided by our innovative solutions.
With Sheikh Mohammed’s support, the company deployed Digital Twins during the World Cup, using a graphic map encompassing all 85 sectors of the LUSAIL stadium. This innovative approach, applied during the final game that set a new world record with over 45TB of mobile data traffic, allowed the stadium's digital twin to generate optimization recommendations between matches, defying human intuition. Leveraging CNS AI-enabled automated decision-making, this solution significantly enhanced user experience, evidenced by a 60% improvement in downlink user throughput, a 9% enhancement in downlink signal quality, accommodating 8% more users, and generating 14% increase in overall traffic.
During his time, Ooredoo was also certified Best Place to Work in Qatar.
To support employees, Ooredoo Qatar launched the ‘Abtal’ initiative, which recognised front-line staff who went above and beyond their regular duties to help customers. The company achieved recertification for ISO 22301:2019, following a major review.
Under his tenure, Ooredoo Qatar returned positive financial results in 2022. Reported revenue was up 7% against 2021, driven by growth in postpaid services, sales of Ooredoo tv, B2B services and Ooredoo’s digital financial service, Ooredoo Money. Reported revenue was up 7% to QR 8.0 billion. EBITDA reached QR 3.8 billion, with EBITDA margin at 48%. Total customer numbers reached 3.6 million.
Nomination Title: Mohammed Bin Abdulla Al Thani
