Subject: [NEXTEL-1] U.S. to Postpone Major Telecom Projects in Iraq

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 02 May 2003 16:02:14 -0400

U.S. to Postpone Major Telecom Projects in Iraq

The U.S will delay all major telecom projects in Iraq until an Iraqi government
can make the decisions and sign the contracts. In the interim, the Defense
Department will sponsor deployment of a wireless network that would serve
Baghdad and a few other locations to help facilitate communications for U.S.
officials and humanitarian groups. Bush administration officials did not
comment on who might build and manage the wireless system.

==================================================================================

U.S. Wants Iraqis to Oversee
Development of Phone Systems
By NEIL KING JR.

Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration plans to postpone all major telephone projects in
Iraq until an interim Iraqi government is in place to make decisions and sign commercial
contracts, U.S. officials said.

The one immediate effort will be a limited, Pentagon-sponsored cellular-phone service for
Baghdad and possibly a few other major cities to ease communications among U.S. officials
and humanitarian groups working there. The administration hopes to get that service
running as early as this month using portable cellular transmitters. Officials wouldn't
comment on who might provide the equipment or manage the system for the Defense
Department.

The administration had talked weeks ago of putting out a large contract for a U.S.
provider to help rebuild Iraq's battered telephone system and possibly to provide a
fledgling cellular service. But in a marked departure from its approach in sectors such as
infrastructure construction and school reform, the administration decided to defer any
large telecom investments until Iraqi officials can oversee the process themselves.

The decision reflects a growing realization that the U.S. cannot tackle all the big jobs
in Iraq itself, especially ones removed from core needs, such as re-establishing power and
repairing airports. Building a modern land-based phone system in Iraq is sure to cost well
over $2 billion, experts say, while a nationwide cellular system would probably cost less
than $300 million.
U.S. officials also say it makes no sense to pay to build a nationwide cellular service
when companies would vie for the rights to do the work with their own money. "Governments
don't have to write checks to have companies set up robust cellular systems," said one
State Department official. He added that the administration may urge the next Iraqi
government to auction off rights to provide cellphone service. Afghanistan now has two
cellphone providers, which were licensed through a newly formed state authority in Kabul.

Even before the war, Iraq had one of the world's worst telephone systems, with fewer than
three phone lines for every 100 Iraqis. Most are concentrated within government and
military buildings. "There essentially isn't a telephone service for the Iraqi people as
it is," the official said.

Pentagon planners now are scrambling to get a small cellular system going in Baghdad as
soon as possible using what are known in the industry as COWs, for cellular on wheels.
About 20 of these truck-based transmitters, along with accompanying switching gear, would
provide decent coverage in a city the size of Baghdad for several thousand cellular users,
experts say. Such a system could be up and running within weeks at a cost of about $10
million. U.S. officials say the Pentagon system will provide service for around 3,000
users.

--Dennis Berman in New York contributed to this article

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/0,,SB105184093625044600,00.html?

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