Networks name change to 'Tamim Almajd' sparks rage in Qatar

CAIRO - 8 July 2017: Qatar-based telecom giants' decision to change network name to "Tamim Almajd" sparked rage among Social media users.

Ooredoo, The largest telecom provider company in Qatar announced on Thursday through its official account on Twitter that it has changed its network name to “Tamim Almajd” (glorious Tamim) in a gesture of support to the Qatari regime.

The telecom giant, which 68 percent of its shares owned by Qatari government related entities, decided to change its network name to “Tamim Almajd.” Citizens of the Gulf emirate woke up on Friday to find out that their cell phones Network name has change to the previously mentioned name.

Ooredoo is a multinational company owned by Qatar and other entities such as the UAE-based ADIA Company, acquires 10 percent of the telecom giant, while other nations including UK and the US own the left 22 percent of the company.

Ooredoo’s rival Vodafone Qatar announced later on Friday that it would provide its clients with an option to change their cell phones network’s name to “Tamim Almajd”.

The company- 70 percent of its shares owned by Qatar- said through its official account on twitter that clients can change their cell phones network’s name by visiting any of its stores in Doha.

However, Vodafone Qatar withdrew its offer later on Friday after it has sparked a wide range of rage among Egyptian Twitter users, who made sure to leave tweets criticizing the company’s decision on its official account, given the international company has a branch operating in Egypt, which has cut off diplomatic ties with the Qatari emirate.

Vodafone Qatar is headed by British national Ian Gray- joined the company as a Chief Executive Officer in December 2015- He is also the Chairman of Vodafone Egypt. Gray was the Chief Executive Officer of Vodafone Egypt during his stay in Cairo between 2002 and 2007.

From 2007 to 2010, Gray served as Regional Director of Vodafone International, focusing on Central and Eastern Europe, while also serving the Middle East branch until December 2015.

Prior to joining Vodafone, Gray served as CEO of Brown & Jackson on the FTSE index and later on General Cable. Prior to that, he served as Executive Director of several divisions of the Thorne EMI Group.

He is also co-chair of the Egyptian-British Business Council, which was established in 1988 under the patronage of the Egyptian and British governments as a strategic body to facilitate trade and investment relations between the two countries.

The telecom giants’ decision came amid an escalation in the rift between four Arab states- Egypt , Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain- and the tiny emirate of Qatar after the latter refused to meet the demands made by the four nations earlier on Friday.

The four Arab states issued a joint statement on Friday that said:
“The ultimatum that had been given to Qatar is now void, leading to further legal, political and economic measures against the government of Qatar by Egypt, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

The Qatari government has purposely thwarted all diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis and has rejected any settlements, reflecting its intention to continue with its destabilizing policies against the interests of the Qatari people.

We also condemn Qatar’s “lack of tact and respect” towards the Kuwaiti mediation, as it leaked the list of demands in an attempt to fail the initiative.

Qatar has violated international conventions and norms; namely the charter of the Gulf Cooperation Council, the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the United Nations, and the outcome of the Islamic-American summit of Riyadh, in which 55 Islamic countries and U.S. President Donald Trump participated.

The Qatari regime interferes in the internal affairs of the countries in the region, seeks to destabilize them to spread chaos and devastation, and funds internationally-designated terror groups.”