EVOLVING TOGETHER

Aziz Aluthman Fakhroo, Group CEO of the Ooredoo Group, has been leading a new strategy for the Qatar-headquartered telecom since taking the helm in November 2020. Now, he's cornering key areas for future growth, including telecom towers, data centers, and fintech.

- HAGAR OMRAN

The small but mighty peninsula country of Qatar has been making big moves recently to accelerate its digital transformation. In February 2024, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology launched Qatar's Digital Agenda 2030, which aims to transform the economy with 32 programs, helping deliver a compound annual GDP growth of 7.8% and increasing the ICT sector's contribution to non-oil GDP to 3.5%. Then, at the Qatar Economic Forum in May 2024, it announced that it is allocating a $2.5 billion investment package to support technology, innovation, and artificial intelligence. State-owned telecom operator, Ooredoo Group, is one of the country's biggest companies aligning itself with this strategy by making moves to evolve into a digital infrastructure company.

As its clients and customers increasingly rely on cloud technologies and AI, the Ooredoo Group is keen to seize an opportunity. While the telecom industry has evolved in recent years, SMS revenue-a traditional income source for telecom companies-has seen a significant decline due to messaging apps like WhatsApp and Telegram. In contrast, data usage is booming, with customers consuming 20-30% more data annually, according to Ooredoo. "Telecom companies face a challenge as data usage is rising, but revenue isn't keeping pace," says Aziz Aluthman Fakhroo, Group CEO of the Ooredoo Group. "As part of our strategy, we are focusing on a strict investment discipline while also exploring ways to improve monetization. We're well-positioned to withstand the changes in the industry and step ahead of the latest trends."