Qtel and Vodafone-Qatar plan to launch M-Commerce service

Qatar Telecom (Qtel) is the main telecoms company in Qatar - and it has announced a deal with Vodafone-Qatar to create a mobile commerce platform. A test version of the platform, which has mobile advertising built-in, is currently available for certain monthly subscribers.

The service will offer Qtel subscribers the ability to do purchasing over the mobile web, as well as money transfer and transactions. The platform has mobile advertising options integrated, and the full version should see public release by the end of the year. Extra functions expected to be included in the public release include bill payments

Source: The Peninsula Qatar

Quotes:

“M-Commerce is an interesting area and we are planning to introduce it to our customers… we are looking into this now and are currently discussing some details with some banks… Everything is in the planning stage,” said Dr. Nasser Marafih, Qtel’s chief executive officer.

“We are looking at what people want and what we can do about it… and convenience is what we can offer… We are actively developing these services… the mobile and money services… this is a very interesting area but it will take a few months to introduce M-Commerce here since there is a lot of interplay going on,” said Rick Seney, Qtel’s chief operating officer.

What we think?

Since Qtel had it’s monopoly taken away from it a few years back, it has been looking to ensure customer retention in the face of competition. It’s hard to disagree with M-commerce as a good route for that. While many people are still skittish about the future of m-banking in Western countries, they really do seem to be a sure thing in developing markets. It’s also a good idea for them to co-operate with Vodafone’s Qatar operation, rather than go head-to-head.