Korek, one of the fastest growing mobile operators in Iraq, has selected Ericsson to modernize and expand its network by a network expansion and service quality improvement project. The agreement will prepare the network for 3G and LTE and further develop Iraq’s telecom infrastructure.

Through the agreement, Ericsson will deploy and integrate new radio base stations across the country and thereby provide a higher performance and a better service quality for the entire Iraqi population.

Sirwan Saber Mustafa, the chairman and president of the board of directors at Korek Telecom, says, “Korek’s focus on providing its customers with exceptional services has enabled it to reach three million subscribers in a very short period of time. Our commitment to establishing a stable and modern network in Iraq, and Ericsson’s expertise will ensure that our customers are provided with a variety of enhanced services in our network.”

As a leader in telecom services, Ericsson delivers more than 1,300 consulting, systems integration and learning services projects in multivendor and multi-technology environments to operators, enterprises and national security and public safety organizations every year. This level of experience along with Ericsson’s ability to execute large scale network expansion and their expertise on the ground was key to the telecom services and equipment provider’s success in expanding their working relationship with Korek.

Tarek Saadi, President – Ericsson North Middle East, says, “Korek’s decision to upgrade its network capabilities reflects its impressive growth over the past few years and also demonstrates the potential of the country’s telecommunications sector. We are very proud to continue our successful working relationship with Korek and hope that we continue to be one of their trusted partners in Iraq.”

The addition of Ericson’s multi standard radio base stations, RBS 6000, and a core network expansion including Evolved Packet Core (EPC) and Mobile Packet Backbone Network (MPBN), will provide a better mobile broadband connectivity and improve the capacity of the network.

Iraq’s three main mobile phone companies - Zain Iraq, Asiacell and Korek – appear unlikely to meet a month-end deadline to list on the local stock exchange, raising the chances of them being penalised, according to Reuters.

The companies are required by Iraqi law to launch initial public offerings on the Iraq Stock Exchange (ISX) by 31st August as part of the 15-year, $1.25 billion operating licences they secured in 2007.

None of the three limited companies has yet become a shareholding firm, a key requirement and the first main step towards going public on the local bourse.

“They must meet the requirement to be a shareholders’ company before anything,” ISX Chief Executive Taha Abdulsalam told Reuters. “After that, we will talk about listing.”

He said that after becoming shareholding companies, the firms would need approval from the ISX board and Iraq’s securities commission in order to be listed; the ISX board decision could take 24 hours, while the securities commission may take up to a week to give their consent. It would then take 2-3 weeks before the companies would be ready to trade.

He concluded that it was impossible for the companies to list on the bourse by the end of August.

“We still insist that they have to reach the licence conditions within the deadline of 31 August,” CMC Commissioner Ahmed Alomary told Reuters. “Otherwise they will receive penalties.”

Zain Iraq is a unit of Kuwait’s Zain, while Asiacell is an affiliate of Qatar Telecom (Qtel), and Korek is part-owned by France Telecom SA and Kuwait’s Agility.

There are now around 23 million mobile phone subscribers in the country, according to the Communications and Media Commission (CMC), which regulates telecommunications in Iraq.

(Source: Reuters)

Iraqi operators Asiacell, Korek Telecom and Zain are facing a mandatory deadline for an initial public offering of stock, with reports stating that the companies have to sell-off a 25 percent holding on the local stock exchange within four years of acquiring their licences, according to Mobile Business Briefing.

This means that the companies must move toward a listing by the end of August 2011. According to Reuters, Asiacell, a Qtel affiliate, has expressed concerns about the timings, stating that it is worried that low liquidity on the bourse could stop it from raising enough cash. It notes that “the timing of an IPO may depend on clarifications on how to implement the requirements of the license, the stock market rules and Iraqi company law.”

Dow Jones Newswires said that an executive at Korek Telecom has stated that the company will “commit to the licence condition” that a stake has to be offered on the local market, and that its plans are “ready and maturing.”

As we reported last week, Zain is working towards a listing and says it will meet its commitments under the licence agreement. In addition to Reuters stating that the Iraq Stock Exchange has a market capitalisation of less than US$4 billion, with daily turnover averaging just US$1.6 million during May 2011, an unnamed analyst told Dow Jones that three telco IPOs in three months is “ambitious and aggressive.” The timings also mean the listings will coincide with summer and Ramadan, which may affect progress.

(Source: Mobile Business Briefing)

With 12 million subscribers in Iraq, Kuwait’s Zain is the market leader in the Iraq Telecoms industry, currently considering several tender offers to manage its telecoms network in Iraq. Zain is likely to award the contract in the next few weeks; the winner will be able to improve the network quality, while Zain will focus its efforts on marketing, sales and improving customer service.

Gold sponsors for Iraq Telecoms 2011 taking place between the 25-27 October 2011, Istanbul, Zain will host the welcome reception taking place on the 25 October, providing delegates with the opportunity to meet with key figures within the organization.

Zain has refused to name bidders for the managed service agreement, but have commented there are at least three, international players such as Nokia Siemens Network, Huawei Technologies and Ericsson to be likely candidates.

Iraq Telecoms 2011 presents a great opportunity to debate the latest industry updates with all the main players in this fast growing sector in Iraq. The event engages this year as every year, key government officials, service companies and operators within the Iraq Telecoms market.

Key industry support has already been confirmed for the Iraq Telecoms conference; sponsors to date include: Asiacell, CDN, Zain, Scopesky, Nokia Siemens Networks, Huawei, O3b, Korek, Arabsat, DragonWave, Ericsson, Silkroad Group, Zhone, PCCW Global, Kalimat, Eutelsat, Technology Partners and Alcatel-Lucent. Representatives from many of the sponsors will be delivering further insight into their plans for expansion.

For further information visit: http://www.iraqtelecoms.com/

Telecommunications should be one of the hottest growth industries in Iraq, but according to a report from Reuters, providers have yet to introduce 3G technology into a market where the military jams mobile phone networks to stop insurgents detonating bombs.

Poor infrastructure, high operating costs, conflicts between communications regulators and security problems are stunting development in a country slowly rebuilding eight years after the U.S.-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein.

Iraq holds a pivotal geographical position in the region and could be an important communications bridge joining the Middle East with Europe and Asia.

But security remains one of the country’s biggest concerns as Iraq’s army and police battle a weakened yet stubborn insurgency while U.S. troops prepare to withdraw by December 31.

Jamming of mobile phone frequencies and poor data services are frequent complaints of Iraqis since the 2003 invasion that toppled its autocratic government and paved the way for a cellular phone market and unrestricted access to the Internet.

Mobile phone firms say military jamming costs them millions of dollars in maintaining and upgrading spectrum. Infrastructure damaged by bombs often takes time to repair due to curfews imposed by authorities because of fears of more attacks.

Sometimes companies are forced to wait until security officials have investigated the attack.

Iraq’s mobile phone and internet providers also fret over the high cost of fiber optic cables, electricity and security. They say that feuding between Iraq’s Communications and Media Commission (CMC) and the Iraqi Telecommunications and Posts Company (ITPC) is hindering progress.

Elie Girard, executive vice-president of strategy and development at France Telecom, said he was bullish about the prospects for Korek Telecom, the mobile operator based in Kurdistan, in which France Telecom recently bought a minority stake.

“There is huge growth potential in Iraq,” said Girard, adding that Korek would grow some 30 percent a year.

Iraq has a mobile market penetration of about 80 percent, lower than other countries in the region, and average revenue per user (ARPU) of around $12-$15 a month, compared with $3-$5 in India and most of sub-Saharan Africa.

To capitalise on the opportunity, Korek is embarking on a mobile network build-out to cover the entire country by the end of the year, said Girard. “Korek’s network is already very good in its home region of Kurdistan, but in the rest of the country we have a lot to do.”

If all goes well, France Telecom has negotiated options to buy out its partner Agility and take majority control of Korek in a few years time.

The deal structure, and the relatively modest upfront price tag of $245 million, was France Telecom’s way of reducing the risks of doing business in a warzone.

(Source: Reuters)

The Iraqi unit of Kuwait telecoms firm Zain is planning to spend $100m this year as part of its plan to expand throughout the entire Kurdish region over the next five months, its chief executive said yesterday.

Emad Makiya, CEO of Zain Iraq, the country’s biggest mobile phone operator, said the firm planned to extend its services to “every remote village” in the semi-autonomous northern area after officially launching operations in its three main cities on Wednesday. It started initial operations in Iraqi Kurdistan in October.

“The roll out has been completed for phase one. We’re starting phase two very soon. The whole investment is going to be in the neighbourhood of $100m for Zain in the Kurdish region,” he said. “Currently we are covering the metropolitan cities of Dohuk, Sulaimaniya and Erbil, and the connecting highways between the three governates and the rest of Iraq.”

Makiya said phase two involved getting vendors to help Zain extend services around the region and said the ground work for this would start in May. Iraq did not have a mobile phone market under the rule of Saddam Hussein, but the industry has boomed in the past eight years after the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled him.

Zain, with 12 million subscribers, competes with AsiaCell and the Iraqi Kurdistan-based Korek; it expects to add up to 18,000 new subscribers a month from Iraq’s Kurdistan Region.

Makiya said Zain had formally appealed against a $262m fine imposed by Iraq in January for breaching its license. Iraq’s Communications and Media Commission (CMC) last month said it had fined Zain for putting 5 million SIM cards in the local market without permission.

Zain had said it was surprised by the penalty and said the licence fee it had paid Iraq allowed it to build a network, use the spectrum and issue a range of SIM card numbers. “We’re fighting it legally. We’ve already submitted our legal explanation to the CMC and to the hearing committee and we’re waiting for the results,” Makiya said. “We are fully confident that this should be resolved in an easier manner than resort to the law.”

He said Zain was also in talks with AsiaCell — which earlier this month said it had stopped interconnection with subscribers of the “unlicensed lines” — to get the lines reconnected. The Iraqi government has criticised Zain and other providers for patchy coverage, but Zain blames reception problems on military jamming as security forces try to prevent militants from detonating bombs.

Makiya said operating in the Kurdish region was easier, particularly because it was safer than the rest of Iraq. “There is no interference over there like you have here in Baghdad because the region is very secure,” he said. The lack of jamming and the better infrastructure network in the Kurdish area should also improve the quality of calls, he added.

(Source: The Peninsula Qatar)

Iraq’s communications minister said he expected the country’s planned fourth mobile phone licence to fetch between $1 billion to $2 billion [2.4 trillion Iraqi dinars] in an auction expected by the end of this year.

According to Reuters, Mohammed Allawi said the expected cost for the licence, including installations and infrastructure costs, could be in the range from $1 to $2 billion, correcting an earlier statement he made on Wednesday.

Forty percent of the licence would go to an operator, 35 percent to the public and 25 percent to the Communications Ministry. Iraq’s mobile phone market, which did not exist under Saddam Hussein, has mushroomed since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled him.

The country held an auction in 2007 in which Kuwait’s Zain, AsiaCell and Korek Telecom — based in the northern Kurdish area — bought 15-year licences for $1.25 billion each.

Allawi said he welcomed Monday’s news about a deal in which France Telecom and Kuwaiti logistics group Agility will buy a 44 percent stake in Korek, but said this did not detract from the need for a fourth mobile phone operator in Iraq.

“France Telecom is going to expand Korek, give it more cover,” he said. “Regarding the fourth licence, the most important thing about it is that we are going for more advanced technology. At present we have no 3G in Iraq, we have no 4G. We have only GSM.”

Eight years after the U.S. invasion, Iraq’s infrastructure is still badly battered and landline and internet penetration remain low.

Third-generation (3G) technology would allow data-hungry consumers to surf the internet and download music to handsets quickly on the go.

(Source: Reuters)