The latest Iraqi communications news, including developments and opportunities in communications and media from Iraq Business News.
The Iraqi Communications and Media Commission (CMC) has reportedly shut down the Baghdad bureau of Al Jazeera Media Network and banned its journalists from reporting in the country. According to a report from Al Jazeera, in a letter to the company on Wednesday, the CMC said it was withdrawing the licence that allowed Al Jazeera […]
By John Lee. Zain Group has said that continued social unrest in Iraq, coupled with heightened levels of price competition and implementation of a new 20 percent sales tax on mobile services, as well as wide-ranging tax increases on other sectors in Iraq, have hit spending on mobile services. The company said that this has […]
The Kurdistan Regional Government's Department of Information Technology (DIT) has announced that Kurdistan’s top level domain, ".KRD" is available for public registration. The Department encourages brands, organizations and individuals to take this opportunity to register the names that are important to them. “In an era of increasing global connectivity and emergence of billions of new […]
By John Lee. Reuters reports that an Iraqi appeals court has upheld a ruling that mobile phone operator Zain Iraq must pay a $187-million tax bill related to the acquisition of a rival Iraqna from Egypt's Orascom Telecom in 2007. Unusually, says the report, the government tried to levy capital gains tax worth $187 million on […]
The foundation for the Islamic Reporting Initiative (IRI) has appointed two new members to its Board of Directors; senior academic Dr Abdel-Aziz Sharabati and the award-winning entrepreneur Ms Amal Daraghmeh-Masri (pictured). Established in December 2015, the foundation has been set up to provide funding for the IRI, which is headquartered in the United Arab Emirates. […]
As part of its results statement for the twelve months to 31st December 2015, Qatar-based Ooredoo gave the following update for its Asiacell mobile telecom operation in Iraq: "Asiacell was impacted by the security situation in Iraq and aggressive pricing competition in the first half of the year. Consequently, revenue was down 22% to QAR […]
The Iraqi Communications and Media Commission (CMC), in its capacity as the sole entity responsible for regulating telecommunications, broadcasting and information Services in Iraq, is initiating the process of launching the Mobile Number Portability service (MNP). In line with their respective obligations, Asiacell, Korek and Zain, the three Iraqi mobile telecommunications operators, are initiating the […]
Ericsson and Asiacell have partnered in a network deal to transform Asiacell's transmission backbone infrastructure in Iraq, reports Telecompaper. This project enables Asiacell to secure the required technology and capacity to cater for the increased demand for data traffic and improve customer experiences in Iraq in the coming five years. Ericsson collaborated with Asiacell in […]
eServGlobal has announced the commercial launch of mobile money services with Zain Iraq. According to a statement from the company, the service was soft-launched in January and has already attracted strong interest. The service is called 'Zain Cash' and is offered by Iraq Wallet, which is an authorised company from the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI). […]
UltiSat has been awarded a contract by SOS International (SOSi) to provide an integrated and managed satellite communications network solution in Taji, Iraq. SOSi is a provider of logistics, construction, training, intelligence, and information technology solutions to clients in the defense, diplomatic, intelligence and law enforcement communities. UltiSat is tasked to deploy, operate, and maintain […]
Ooredoo is expanding its mobile financial services (MFS) following the launch of AsiaHawala exclusively with Asiacell, part of Ooredoo Group, in December 2015. AsiaHawala is the first-ever mobile money service provider to launch in Iraq, licenced by the Central Bank of Iraq. The service enables Asiacell customers to make a number of Mobile Money transactions […]
By John Lee. Washington DC-based communications consultancy BGR Government Affairs LLC has reported that it has been actively lobbying in the United States on behalf of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). In a statement made pursuant to the US’s Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), the company also confirmed that it had billed the KRG $150,000 for […]
