-Qtel's Virgin Mobile Service will Continue to Provide New Experiences for Customers across Qatar
-ictQATAR refutes Vodafone Qatar's misleading claims of illegal mobile service provider status: "After due consideration, ictQATAR has determined that Virgin Mobile is a branded service of Qtel and not an unlicensed third mobile telecommunications provider"

Doha, Qatar - In response to ictQATAR's statement on the status of Qtel's Virgin Mobile service in Qatar, Qtel today welcomed the ruling and confirmed that the service will continue to be offered and available for customers across Qatar.

ictQATAR has conducted an exhaustive independent review following a complaint raised by a competitor about the status of Qtel's Virgin Mobile service. The review found that the core complaint of Vodafone Qatar - that Qtel's Virgin Mobile service was a "third mobile service provider" or MVNO - was baseless and without foundation.

Qtel has always maintained that the service was the result of a brand partnership with Virgin Group, and that it did not represent a third operator or Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO).

H.E Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Bin Saud Al Thani, Chairman, Qtel: "Today's judgement clarifies Qtel's long-held position that we are offering the new brand experience as part of a wide portfolio of products and services designed to serve the whole community of Qatar. We thank ictQATAR for its time and investment in this process and will fully support the review's recommendations."

"Throughout this review, Qtel has refrained from commenting publically out of respect for the role of ictQATAR and for the due process of law. We have ignored numerous erroneous statements made by a competitor and continued to focus on our key responsibility - delivering an exciting new service for our customers. With this ruling, we are able to continue to move forward with our plans to offer an open, fun and easy-to-use service for people throughout the nation."

Qtel accepts ictQATAR's recommendation that it could and should have been more proactively open about the concept behind the launch of Qtel's Virgin Mobile service in Qatar. Qtel will fully respect ictQATAR's decision in this matter.

In addition, it thanks ictQATAR for its recommendations in terms of brand enhancements and refinements for the service. The idea of a multiple brand strategy is a new one in the regional telecommunications sector, and requires additional effort to articulate to all stakeholders.

Accordingly, the company today committed to providing full resources to explain the vision for Qtel's Virgin Mobile service in Qatar.

-Ends-