Communications holding company, AT&T recently announced that a subsidiary, in association with Qtel and NavLink, signed a memorandum of understanding with Energy City Qatar (ECQ) to jointly develop and deliver data communications services and solutions to the ‘first-of-its kind’ business centre in the Middle East.
ECQ is a US $2.6 billion development to create the Middle East’s first integrated energy and business centre for the oil and gas industry.
ECQ will build and provide the facilities and infrastructure required to equip a carrier class Internet data centre (IDC) and a network operations centre (NOC) in the Energy City service centre in Qatar.
“AT&T is pleased to be able to play such an important role in this prestigious, landmark project,” said John Gibson president of Business Development, Middle East and Africa, AT&T Global Business Services.
“This announcement is an important opportunity for AT&T to help connect businesses around the world, using the best networking solutions at its disposal to benefit this major business centre in the Middle East, one of the world’s fastest growing economies,” he added.
AT&T placed its first Middle East global network node in Doha, in cooperation with Qtel in 2005. Since then, AT&T has developed agreements to deploy its infrastructure in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
“Qtel is delighted to be involved with this very important initiative as part of our continuous and committed support to Qatar’s business community, represented by this ground breaking project at Energy City.” said Dr. Nasser Marafih, CEO, of Qtel.
“Providing local expertise in conjunction with established partners is a win-win situation for all involved and gives Energy City Qatar the support it needs on its journey towards being a major business centre in the Middle East,” he added.
Envisioned by Gulf Energy, ECQ aims to attract the industry leaders in Oil and Gas production, support services, infrastructure and downstream activities, shipping and trading, market and resource data, intellectual property and energy trading.
“Joining Qtel and AT&T’s advanced telecoms technologies and expertise will play a major role in connecting companies to global markets and expertise within the hydrocarbon industry, thus securing Energy City Qatar’s status as the first global hub for companies in this sector,” added Hesham Al Emadi, Energy City Qatar CEO.
