Qatar’s mobile incumbent, Qtel, and new competitor, Vodafone Qatar, have reached agreements on site sharing and interconnection. The site sharing agreement allows the two rival operators to share each other’s mobile towers; it claims to be the first such agreement in the region and one of the first instances in the world that site sharing has been agreed between an incumbent and a second operator before full commercial launch. By sharing sites, the two operators are hoping to streamline costs and reduce environmental and community impact by avoiding the unnecessary duplication of towers across Qatar. Qtel said it expects to share more than half of its mobile network towers under the agreement.

Meanwhile, the interconnection agreement will allow communication between the two mobile networks following the launch of Vodafone’s network in the country last week. “Vodafone Qatar believes the signing of these agreements is the start of an important partnership at the wholesale level with Qtel, and will support Vodafone Qatar to introduce retail competition and choice for customers,” said Grahame Maher, CEO of Vodafone Qatar, in a statement. The operator’s new network is currently limited to 1,000 users but is scheduled for full commercial launch this summer.