Qatar Telecom (Qtel) has reported 18 per cent growth in second-quarter net profit to QR673m ($184.8m) compared with the same period in 2010.

The group’s revenue grew from QR6.77bn to QR7.99bn in the second quarter this year, driven by increased voice usage and broadband subscribers.

Revenues in the first six months of 2011 grew by 16.6 per cent to QR15.4bn.

The customer base grew by 16.2 per cent to 77.5 million in the first half of 2011.

“Our growth is a result of our willingness to invest in developing markets and to manage those assets with a medium-to-long-term horizon. That principle is now beginning to bear fruit,” says Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Saud al-Thani, chairman of the Qtel Group.

Qtel has operations in Kuwait, Algeria, Iraq, Oman, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, the Maldives and Indonesia.