Archive | Iraqi Communications News

The latest Iraqi communications news, including developments and opportunities in communications and media from Iraq Business News.

‘Political Pressures’ Behind Delayed Telecom Probe Hearing

The parliamentary hearing of an investigation into five million unlicensed mobile phone lines distributed by Iraqi telecom giant Zain Iraq has been postponed because of “political pressure”, alleged Ihsan al-Awwadi of the parliamentary communications and information commission. Scheduled to be held on Monday, the hearing to confirm the allegations against Zain has been delayed until […]

Hermes Wins Iraq Communications Contract

Hermes Datacommunications Middle East, a key specialist providing Wide Area Network communications to the upstream oil and gas industry has secured a contract to provide Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) communications to Expro North Sea Ltd in Iraq. The contract outlined will include a fully managed VSAT network, bandwidth, equipment, installation and support to The […]

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What's in a Name?

In the Arabic world family name is important – family names are ‘brands’ with real stories, history, notoriety and respect. This is particularly the case in Iraq, a nation very much at the beginning of an onslaught of international brands – some seeking associations with the big family names of Iraq and others planning strategies […]

Iraq Mobile Operators Facing Mandatory IPO Deadline

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 […]

Zain Iraq Planning Stock Market Launch

Zain's Iraq subsidiary is preparing for an initial public offering (IPO) on the Iraq Stock Exchange that will raise an estimated $80 million [96 billion Iraqi dinars] for a 20% stake, the Kuwait Arabic daily al-Qabas reports. As a condition of its operating licence, the company is required to list its shares on the Iraqi […]

Zain Considers Offers to Manage its Network

Kuwait’s Zain is considering several tender offers to manage its telecoms network in Iraq and will likely award the contract in the next few weeks, a company spokesman has said. According to Reuters, Zain refused to name bidders for the managed service agreement, but said there were at least three, with international players such as […]

Iraqi Media Woes

By Lisa Knight, Creative Director & Founder of The Brand Foundation. 250 journalists have been reported as being killed in Iraq since 2003 and in 2010 6 lost their lives in Iraq out of a total of 10 in the region. It is claimed that these tragic deaths are yet to be investigated by the […]

Diwaniya Council to Close Zain Offices in Protest

According to a report from Iraq's National Media Centre, the provincial government in Diwaniya will close the regional offices of mobile phone operator Zain Telecom on Saturday, in solidarity with the campaign to boycott the company to pressure it to improve its services. The Chairman of the council's Committee on Transport and Communications complained about […]

High Costs Hamper Iraqi Telecoms

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 […]

Asiacell Revenues Up 17% year-on-year

Asiacell has stated that its revenues increased 17% year-on-year to US$377.29 million in Q1, according to a report from Wireless Federation. EBITDA rose 14% to US$213.63 million, with EBITDA margin falling 1% to 57%. Revenue and EBITDA growth was driven by increased customer base and increased usage. At the end of Q1, Asiacell had 8.306 […]

Zain Iraq Chooses Nokia Siemens Networks

Zain Iraq is unifying its subscriber data, currently distributed across the network, into a single database using the Nokia Siemens Networks’ One-NDS platform. One-NDS enables real-time data access across multiple applications. It addresses Zain’s need for a resilient and high capacity subscriber data repository to meet its growth targets by introducing flexibility not found in […]