Uncovering Value in the Middle Eastern Postal Market
Uncovering Value in the Middle Eastern Postal Market
Read MoreTag: Qatar Post
Qtel services to be offered at post offices
Users of Qatar Telecom (Qtel) services will now have an option when it comes to the payment of bills, following the signing of an agreement between the General Postal Corporation (Q-Post) and the telecom service provider.
Qtel services at post offices will be offered in a phased manner, starting with Q-Post offices located in Dafna, Abdul Aziz bin Ahmed Street and Al Kahraba Street.
Other than payment of bills, postpaid and prepaid GSM cards and prepaid charge cards will be available at post offices. At a press conference, Sheikh Fahad bin Jassim Al Thani, Qtel COO, said: “Today’s joint efforts will enable customers to subscribe to most of their telecom services and mail their personal or business parcels at the same time. Also, this will provide customers with more outlets in numerous areas to meet their telecom needs, in addition to Qtel’s 17 branches.”
Waleed Al Sayed, Qtel Executive Director (Customer Services), said: “We are planning to work on a long-term relationship. All the range of our products will be gradually rolled out. As you are also aware, training for Q-Post employees will need to be given. By early 2009, all services will be provided.”
Al Sayed said Qtel employees will not be sent to the post offices but will only provide the training. “We have no intention of doing the work physically there. We have confidence in Q-Post to deliver quality service to customers,” he said.
Six post offices will now be offering the Hala recharge service while six will be added later.
Ali Mohammed Al Ali, Q-Post Chairman, said: “We hope all branches will be covered by the end of this year. Customers can now take care of their daily responsibilities with less stops, thus saving them time and without having to drive across town as our Q-Post branches as well as Qtel’s are available throughout Qatar.”
Read MoreRFID project likely to improve post services
The Radio Frequencies Identification (RFID) project, initiated by Q-Post along with other postal corps of the region is expected to improve the quality of services in the whole region, according to Yusuf Nasser al-Muzafer, director of administrative affairs at Q-Post.
Al Muzafer was addressing a meeting of the project group held at the GPO on Monday. The RFID, said to be the first of its kind in the region is an innovative postal project being implemented by Q-Post in association with Emirates Post and Saudi Arabian Postal Corp.
The project started on March 3, would be completed on June 7 and it aims to test the quality of service control through Radio Frequencies Identification. It will help Arab postal corps in using the global monitoring system to track mail via satellite, Qatar is the first Arab nation to participate as an observer in the UPU Quality Service Steering Committee and Q-Post official Catina Aghayan has been made a member of the committee.
Read MoreGulf region to test RFID technology
In a project coordinated by Qatar’s postal authority, Q-Post and two other neighbouring Posts are testing various RFID (radio frequency identification) technologies to measure quality of service in the Gulf region.
Since the beginning of March, operators have been measuring transmission times for letter post between Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, using RFID chips read remotely and without direct visual contact, by means of seven RFID readers or gates installed in mail processing centres.
The project aims to study the process for integrating and interconnecting two separate technologies via some “semi-active” and “passive” 4,000 chips concealed in test envelopes. The three-month project will provide specific information on the combined use of different technologies for the UPU’s global quality of service monitoring system. Eventually, this system will use RFID technology to measure the time taken by the destination country to forward incoming mail to the final delivery point. This will enable a link to be established between quality of service and the rate of remuneration of the destination countries for the mail.
At the Postal Operations Council in January, the Quality of Service Project Group decided to go ahead with this system and to focus on the interoperability of different technologies. Various standards will be defined this year, and the global monitoring system will enter its first pilot phase in 2009. It will then be extended to all UPU member countries. As well as being a helpful tool for calculating terminal dues, this system could be used by operators to improve mail flows.
Read MoreQ-Post releases ‘perfume’ stamps
Q-Post yesterday launched its latest version of stamps, which it labelled as “traditional perfume”.
The stamps, released in a set of four, each of which priced at QR 1.50, ooze fragrance of four traditional perfumes produced in Qatar.
The four perfumes include Al Marash, Oud oil, Agar wood and Al Moghass.
Describing it as a unique set of stamps, chairman of Q-Post Ali Mohamed al-Ali said the idea of perfume stamps was conceived long back by Qatar Foundation vice-chairman Dr Saif al-Hajri. “Our initial plan was to bring out stamps, perfumed in a liquid made of Sidra. However, that did not materialize.”
Each of the four perfumes is dear to Qatari people, said al-Ali.
The stamps would be available from the country’s post offices from today onwards.
Khalid Fikri, head of philatelic bureau of Q-Post, designed the stamps.
Over 80,000 units of the stamps have been released for sale. Along with, 2,000 First Day
Cover of the stamps were also released, each priced at QR7.
The chairman also announced that Q-Post would also release nine stamps on the Qatar Islamic Museum, the work of which is progressing fast.
Al-Ali said that the postal corporation would launch next year a “petroleum” stamp, which would have fragrance of petrol.
One of the nine stamps would be on the complex housing the museum and the other on antiques to be showcased there, said al-Ali.
The museum is expected to be ready by November.
Besides al-Ali, Fikri and public relations manager Abdulla al-Hajri also attended the meeting.
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