Qtel rebrands itself as ‘Ooredoo’

Qatar’s telecom operator Qtel Group has announced that it will change its brand to Ooredoo, and that each of its operating companies in emerging markets across the Middle East, North Africa and South-East Asia will adopt the new brand during the course of 2013 and 2014.

The announcement was made by Ooredoo Chairman His Excellency Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Bin Saud Al-Thani at a special launch event at Mobile World Congress 2013 in Barcelona, Spain.

“With Ooredoo, we have chosen an Arabic word that means ‘I want’, to reflect the aspirations of our customers and our core belief that we can enrich people’s lives and stimulate human growth in the communities where we operate,” said Sheikh Abdullah.

These companies, in which Ooredoo already has a controlling interest, include brands such as Qtel in Qatar, Indosat in Indonesia, Wataniya in Kuwait, Nawras in Oman, Tunisiana in Tunisia, and Nedjma in Algeria.

During the event in Barcelona, Ooredoo announced football star Lionel ‘Leo’ Messi as its global brand ambassador, and agreed to support the Leo Messi Foundation as part of the company’s continued commitment to making a difference in communities across the world.

“We believe that young people should be given the life chances that mobile technology can provide; that under-served communities should be able to access the Internet; that every woman should have an equal opportunity to use a mobile phone; and that entrepreneurs and small businesses should be able to receive business services tailored to their needs. Our new brand reflects these beliefs,” Sheikh Abdullah added.

“We are very excited to become Ooredoo because the new brand signals our readiness to take the company to the next level,” said Dr Nasser, Group CEO, Ooredoo.

“It is our belief that we can better serve our global customers by leveraging the combined resources and assets of a strong, unified global business under one brand. We also believe that rebranding now will help us to maintain our momentum in the face of new realities for the industry, signalling our commitment to become a global force,” he added.

Ooredoo has a global customer base of 89.2 million (as of September 30, 2012) and consolidated revenues of $6.8bn for the first nine months of fiscal year 2012.

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