Qatar has been ranked eighth among top 10 countries worldwide for fixed line Internet speeds, according to a new study.

Qatar is one of the fastest-rising countries in the world, offering average peak connection speeds of 62.8 Mbps, a 72 per cent year-on-year increase, said the Akamai “State of the Internet" Report.

The report attributes the incredible rise to telecom group Ooredoo’s free speed upgrade in October 2014, which saw customers on 1 Mbps plans boosted to 10 Mbps, while customers on the 10 Mbps plans were upgraded to 25 Mbps.

With this, Qatar jumped into the top ten nations for global average peak connection speeds for the first time, displacing Luxembourg.

The Akamai Report also states that Ooredoo’s on-going fibre upgrades also contributed significantly to a sharp rise in Broadband connectivity in Qatar, with a 282 per cent rise of high-speed adoption rates in Qatar in the last quarter of 2014.

As well as boosting speeds for all 1Mbps and 10Mbps home Fibre Plans, Ooredoo doubled upload speeds for all Fibre customers during the period.

Sheikh Saud Bin Nasser Al Thani, CEO of Ooredoo Qatar, said: “We are striving to make Qatar the best-connected country in the world, and this report shows the qualitative impact Ooredoo is having on Internet speeds and Internet adoption across the country.”

“Customers in Qatar know that Ooredoo offers the biggest, fastest network, and this new report demonstrates the incredible strides we have taken in terms of average peak connection speeds and adoption rates on a global scale,” he added. – TradeArabia News Service