The Qtel Group received two awards at the Telecoms World Awards Middle East, the preeminent telecom event in the region. Qtel released a press release here Tuesday saying that the Telecoms World Middle East Awards and Gala Dinner identifies and rewards companies across the region who have demonstrated an unparalleled ability to succeed and have continually set standards of excellence for the telecoms sector. For the top award of the evening, The Qtel Group beat off strong competition in the category for Best Operator, vying with the Etisalat Group, Saudi Telecom Company and Zain Group among others, for the prestigious title. For his part, CEO of Qtel Group, Dr. Nasser Marafih, said: \"It is a great honour for the Qtel Group to receive these awards and to be recognised within the region as a telecom group that is a leading innovator. These awards reflect the tremendous amount of hard work and dedication from our staff across the region.\" The Qtel Group was recognised for its commitment in implementing a unified, broadband?ready strategy for introducing high-speed Internet services across its 17 markets. In addition, the Qtel Group’s investment in innovation – demonstrated by the launch of a number of pioneering new services including \"Backstage\" mobile music and Mobile Money at a Group level in 2011 – was noted by the event judges. In the category of Best Brand, Qtel was successful on the night for the launch of its Nojoom customer reward programme. The programme has been a key brand for Qtel in Qatar, representing a commitment to customer care and high quality content. The awards are hosted each year, as part of the Telecoms World Middle East Conference, to recognise the outstanding achievements of leading organisations across the Middle East who positively contributed to the development of the telecoms industry in the region over the last year. Qatar Telecom (Qtel) provides a full range of telecommunications services in Qatar and across its presence in 17 countries. Our vision is to be among the top 20 telecommunications companies in the world by 2020 through expansion in both the MENA region and South East Asia. It is worth to mention that Qtel continued its run of industry accolades this week, winning \"Outstanding Leader of the Year\" and \"Telecom Deal of the Year Middle East\" at the TMT Finance and Investment Middle East Awards, held in Doha, Qatar. Both awards saw Qtel succeed against a shortlist of leading companies that included a number of the most significant names in regional and international telecommunications.