AlJazeera Channel and Al Majaz Telecommunications company launch AlJazeera Mobile News Service

AlJazeera News Channel, in cooperation with Al-Majaz Telecommunications and Qtel, has announced the launch of Al Jazeera Mobile News Service which will provide the people of Qatar with the latest breaking and political news by SMS message to their mobile phone whenever and wherever there is GSM coverage.

Qtel is the first operator in the Middle East to launch this news service (breaking news and political news) with AlJazeera, opening new horizons for the people of Qatar. AlJazeera plans to launch this service in other countries in the region, North Africa and later worldwide.

The service will be transmitted in short messages to Qtel postpaid customers who subscribe to AlJazeera Mobile, providing customers with breaking news updates and ensuring they are kept informed about recent developments from the local and global arena.

This was announced by Mr. Ali Kamal, the Marketing Director of AlJazeera Channel at a press conference held in Doha by AlJazeera on Tuesday and attended by Qtel's Executive Director Wireless Services, Ross Cormack and Al Majaz Chief Executive, Mohamed El Obaidly.

Mr. Abd Al Aziz Al Mahmood, the chief editor of Aljazeera.net has reaffirmed that the launching of this service will move AlJazeera to the third generation of news information, subsequent to its outstanding achievements in carrying the Arab information media into new horizons and putting the channel on rank with leading international news organizations.

This follows AlJazeera's launching of its Arabic online news almost three ago and recently its English site. The two sites attract more than 20 million visitors every month.

"AlJazeera's coverage of the September 11 attacks and subsequently the two wars in Afghanistan, Iraq as well as the continuing conflict in Palestine, was internationally recognised as distinct and was taken as a major and unique source of news for all major international news and TV networks."

Speaking on the launch of this service, Ross Cormack, Executive Director, Wireless Services at Qtel said, "It is significant that Qtel is the first operator in the Middle East to be launching this service. We recognise that in today's world it is increasingly important to be the first to know about what is happening."

"We are delighted to be able to offer our customers this news service from the world renowned news organisation, AlJazeera, using Al-Majaz technology," Mr. Cormack continued.

Mohamed El Obaidly, Chief Executive of Al Majaz Telecommunications Company, which specialises in telecommunications and information technology solutions, said that this unprecedented strategic cooperation with AlJazeera on the "AlJazeera Mobile" project constitutes a crucial point in adopting the most recent technology developments in the Arab region.

Mr. Obaidly also pointed out that Al-Majaz Company is currently engaged in establishing a specialised company based on international standards to provide the most recent information technology services on mobile phones. Its joint project with the Channel "AlJazeera Mobile" will initiate its activities following a 6-month of joint work.

To subscribe to AlJazeera Mobile Service

The service is available in Qatar to all post-paid GSM customers. For subscriptions call Qtel's Customer Care for AlJazeera Mobile on Number '133' from the mobile you wish to subscribe from or send an SMS message with the commands below to number 2555:

sbn a to subscribe to AlJazeera Mobile Breaking News in Arabic
sbn e to subscribe to AlJazeera Mobile Breaking News in English
spn a to subscribe to AlJazeera Mobile Political News in Arabic
spn e to subscribe to AlJazeera Mobile Political News in English

How much will it cost?

AlJazeera Mobile Breaking News and Political News will cost QR. 15 each, per month. Customers will have to pay the bill together with the rental for the GSM subscription (every three months: 3 months x QR. 15= QR. 45).