Qtel to fly lucky fans to Gulf Cup finals

The number of entries has spiked significantly over the past 24 hours, following Qatar's last-minute victory over Yemen, which saw the team progress to the semi-finals. Thousands of people have now registered for the chance to win tickets to the finals.

As the Official Telecommunications Partner of the 19th Gulf Cup, Qtel has developed a range of content and interactive media services for mobile phone customers. The highlight of its offering for many fans has been three opportunities to win a trip for two to the championship final in Oman.

Adel Al Mutawa, Executive Director, Group Communications, said:

"The 2009 edition of the Gulf Cup has proven to be a hugely exciting spectacle for sports fans across the region, attracting some of the most passionate crowds in the event's long history. As the Official Telecommunications Partner, we have been very pleased to get closer to our customers, and the promotions offer us the chance to fulfil many sports fans' dream of seeing the final at the Qtel Hospitality Village at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Oman."

Everyone who has subscribed to any of Qtel's content and multimedia services for the Cup is eligible for the grand prize. Among the services on offer from Qtel are SMS alerts with goals, match summaries, and commentary, as well as SMS+ multimedia alerts, which offer goal video replays and match video summaries. The services have proved particularly popular as Qatar has progressed in the football event, as well as in the basketball, volleyball and handball events.

Customers who subscribe to Qtel's special SMS package receive two general news alerts from the tournament daily, all goal alerts (within one minute from scoring), match summaries and a daily summary. To subscribe to the SMS package for QR10, customers need to send "A" to 2828.

Customers who subscribe to Qtel's SMS+ package receive all the benefits that a SMS package subscriber gets, plus video goal reviews (within three minutes from scoring) and video match summaries. To subscribe to the SMS+ package for QR20, customers need to send "B" to 2828.

Subscribers are automatically invited to participate in the other interactive services, including the daily Gulf Cup Quiz, Best Player Voting and the Commentary Services, which give subscribers additional chances to more prizes, including a trip to the final and other soccer-themed giveaways.

For those Qtel customers who have not yet signed up for the new promotions, there is still time to subscribe and have a chance win to one of the Grand prizes. The final results of the promotions are set to be announced at the end of this week.

Qtel has a distinguished history of supporting sporting events within Qatar, and, as the company has grown internationally, it extended its support to a range of regional and international events.