Qatari telecoms firm Ooredoo announced that its customer base has exceeded 100 million people across its footprint in the Middle East, North Africa and Southeast Asia.
Ooredoo achieved this milestone in Q4 2014 according to figures released last Friday, following a year that saw the company grow its customer base in markets like Qatar, Algeria and Oman, as well as launch operations in new markets like Myanmar.
Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Bin Saud Al Thani, chairman Ooredoo Group, said: “Ooredoo has always had a clear vision for growth, supported by our prudent investment and development strategy.”
Ooredoo operates in markets with an addressable population of more than 700 million people, and sees strong potential for growth across its footprint.
Its newest market, Myanmar, has a population of about 52 million people and a relatively low mobile penetration rate of 27 percent, according to the Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technology. Within its first month of commercial operations in 2014, Ooredoo claims that it reached more than one million customers in the country.
Ooredoo also achieved key milestones in a number of its core markets in 2014, growing its customer base in Qatar to more than three million and reaching more than 3.5 million 3G customers in Algeria within one year of the launch of 3G services.
Ooredoo showcased a range of smart technologies – including smart education, smart city and M2M solutions – at the Ooredoo pavilion at Mobile World Congress last week.
“We are confident that Ooredoo’s investment in these solutions, as well as bigger, faster networks across our global footprint, will enable the company to sustain its on-going growth and better serve its customers,” Sheikh Abdullah said.
Ooredoo has a presence in Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Algeria, Tunisia, Iraq, Palestine, the Maldives, Myanmar and Indonesia. The company reported revenues of $9.3 billion in 2013.
