Qatar's telecoms regulator will introduce mobile number portability (MNP) by the end of January in a move likely to increase competition in a sector dominated by state-controlled Qatar Telecom (Qtel).

 

The regulator, ictQatar, said on its website that MNP would give residents "the ability to more freely choose the best service provider to meet their needs", adding that this was an important part of the liberalisation of Qatar's telecoms market.

 

Qatar was the last of the six Gulf Co-operation Council countries to open up its telecoms sector, with Vodafone Qatar ending Qtel's monopoly in 2009.

 

Since then, Vodafone Qatar - 49 percent owned by the Qatar Foundation, which was founded by the country's ruler - has steadily built up its customer base to 936,300 mobile subscribers as at September 30.

 

Qtel and Vodafone Qatar were not immediately available for comment. - Reuters