Nokia and Ooredoo Qatar have signed a three-year agreement under which Nokia will upgrade and expand Ooredoo's existing mobile broadband network across the country to meet ever-growing subscriber demands.

With one of the most vibrant economies in the Middle East, Qatar needs to meet rising data demands sparked by surging smartphone use. Under its Supernet initiative, one of the most significant network evolutions in the country's history, Ooredoo Qatar is already using Nokia's LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) carrier aggregation technology to offer subscribers with compatible mobile devices up to 375 megabits-per-second speeds in busy areas of Doha, Qatar's capital and most populous city. In a recent demonstration, the companies achieved peak data rates close to 600 Mbps.

Under the new agreement, Nokia will deploy its leading 2G, 3G, 4G LTE, LTE-A radio and core network technologies and services expertise. This will allow Ooredoo Qatar to expand the Supernet service across the country and deliver the highest speeds and quality to a growing customer base.

Waleed Al-Sayed, Chief Executive Officer, Ooredoo Qatar, commented: 'We continue to enhance the Ooredoo Supernet to deliver the best possible Internet experience, working with a range of international technology leaders such as Nokia. By deploying these cutting-edge technologies from Nokia, we will continue to actively boost network performance from 2G through to LTE-A, and deliver a host of social, financial and business benefits for Qatar.'

Bernard Najm, vice president and head of the Middle East Market Unit, Nokia, said: 'This is another important development in our relationship with Ooredoo Qatar, and we continue the successful deployment of LTE technology across the country. Our mobile broadband technology allows service providers to keep pace with fast-growing customer data demands now and into the future.'