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LONDON (RTRS):
Iraq hopes to auction off two to five mobile phone
licences by the end of this year to replace the
country’s three expiring wireless licences, the head
of Iraq’s communications watchdog said on Thursday.
Siyamend Othman, chief executive of Iraq’s new NCMC
(National Communications and Media Commission)
regulator, told a London news conference that the
licences might last for 15 years with a possible
extension of five years.Othman, in London for a
two-day consultation with Iraqi Communications
Minister Jowan Massoum and international telecoms
industry representatives, said he hoped to conclude
discussions in September, but that nothing was yet
set in stone.
Asked how many wireless licences were likely to be
awarded, he said, “Logic says two to five licences.”
He added that the final number would depend on
whether Iraq wanted to focus on raising proceeds or
ensuring as much competition as possible. But when
it came to raising cash, he said: “We are going to
try to get as much as we can. There are techniques
for doing that and we plan to use every technique in
the book.”
A quarter of a century of wars and crushing
sanctions have badly damaged Iraq’s communications
network, and mobile phones were only introduced in
the country of about 27 million people after the
US-led invasion in 2003. With only about 3 per cent
of the population with a fixed-line phone, the
country is increasingly dependent on mobile
networks, which have more than two million customers
as people struggle to stay in touch and do basic
business. Othman emphasised that he was keen to
ensure a transparent auction process and level
playing field. He was determined to ensure that
winning bidders would not have to “know some big
shot and buy him a yacht”. “We need help. Indeed we
need help,” he said.
“But we are determined (to ensure a fair
process).”The new national licences will replace
three regional ones issued by the US-led occupation
authority in 2003. Egypt’s Orascom Telecom currently
holds the licence for central Iraq, while Kuwait’s
MTC covers the south, and two mostly Kurdish
operators have effectively split the licence for
Iraqi Kurdistan.MTC and Communications Minister
Massoum promptly raised their hands as keen bidders,
with Massoum emphasising her independence from the
regulator and saying she would work with private
groups and saw it as “just a business investment”.
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