Qatar Communications - 2021

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Telephones - fixed lines

total subscriptions: 461,289

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 19.15 (2019 est.)

Telephones - mobile cellular

total subscriptions: 3,917,571

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 162.6 (2019 est.)

Telecommunication systems

general assessment:

telecom infrastructure in Qatar demonstrated resilience during the pandemic, following surge in Internet usage; highest fixed-line and mobile penetrations in Middle East with almost 100% LTE coverage; operator deployed 5G across the country with positive subscribership, primarily around Doha; largest user of the Internet in the Middle East; importer of broadcasting equipment from China (2021)

(2020)

domestic: fixed-line 16 per 100 and mobile-cellular telephone subscribership 138 telephones per 100 persons (209)

international: country code - 974; landing points for the Qatar-UAE Submarine Cable System, AAE-1, FOG, GBICS/East North Africa MENA and the FALCON submarine cable network that provides links to Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Southeast Asia; tropospheric scatter to Bahrain; microwave radio relay to Saudi Arabia and the UAE; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean) and 1 Arabsat; retains full ownership of two commercial satellites, Es'hailSat 1 and 2 (2019)

note: the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a significant impact on production and supply chains globally; since 2020, some aspects of the telecom sector have experienced downturn, particularly in mobile device production; many network operators delayed upgrades to infrastructure; progress towards 5G implementation was postponed or slowed in some countries; consumer spending on telecom services and devices was affected by large-scale job losses and the consequent restriction on disposable incomes; the crucial nature of telecom services as a tool for work and school from home became evident, and received some support from governments

Broadcast media

TV and radio broadcast licensing and access to local media markets are state controlled; home of the satellite TV channel Al-Jazeera, which was originally owned and financed by the Qatari government but has evolved to independent corporate status; Al-Jazeera claims editorial independence in broadcasting; local radio transmissions include state, private, and international broadcasters on FM frequencies in Doha; in August 2013, Qatar's satellite company Es'hailSat launched its first communications satellite Es'hail 1 (manufactured in the US), which entered commercial service in December 2013 to provide improved television broadcasting capability and expand availability of voice and Internet; Es'hailSat launched its second commercial satellite in 2018 with aid of SpaceX (2019)

Internet country code

.qa

Internet users

total: 2,355,297

percent of population: 99.65% (July 2018 est.)

Broadband - fixed subscriptions

total: 284,679

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 11.82 (2019 est.)

NOTE: The information regarding Qatar on this page is re-published from the 2021 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Qatar 2021 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Qatar 2021 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.