Under the Saddam regime ordinary Iraqis did not have access to wireless communications. Communications in the country were further restricted by the recent war, which damaged the existing land line infrastructure. The US military recently awarded a contract for a limited GSM network MCI, while two year contracts to provide cellular services across the country are due to go to tender later this month.
However, reports yesterday said that users of GSM phones registered on networks in other countries suddenly realized they had roaming access in Iraq.
It was not clear whether yesterday this was via the MCI operated network. Some reports suggested users were able to get access to networks in neighboring countries.
Reuters reported that operators in neighboring countries intended to offer services to Iraqis and were already testing their networks. Other reports said that operators in neighboring countries had already struck deals with the Coalition Provisional Administration which is currently running the country.
These developments could throw the tender program announced last week into confusion. Potential operators may be reluctant to shell out for licenses if other operators can infringe on their license area with impunity.
An MCI spokeswoman confirmed that its Iraqi network had been up and running since the beginning of June. She said she could not comment on whether or not users of non-Iraqi networks had been able to roam onto that network.
The US Defense Department could not be contacted for comment.
MCI’s spokeswoman also confirmed that the company would review the request for tender for the two year contact when it becomes available.
Source: Computerwire
