Subject: [NEXTEL-1] GSM wins in Iraq

From: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 06 Oct 2003 13:03:06 -0400

GSM wins in Iraq

by Heather Forsgren Weaver
Oct. 06, 2003

WASHINGTON

After weeks of speculation, it appears that GSM
technology has won out over CDMA systems in Iraq.

The Coalition of Provisional Authority and the Iraqi Minister of Communications
today announced the winners of mobile-phone licenses in Iraq. Asia-Cell, the
incumbent GSM provider, will continue service in the North. Atheer, which is
reportedly associated with the Mobile Telecommunications Co. of Kuwait, was
awarded the southern license. MTC is providing GSM service to the British military
and other humanitarian efforts in the southern region.

The winner for the central license, including Baghdad, was Orascom Telecom of
Egypt. Orascom does not have a network in place in Iraq, but it is a GSM operator
in several African and Middle-Eastern markets.

Orascom is the only winner to verify that it has won a license. “The criteria of
choice was based on the lowest prices to the subscribers, so the fact that we won
means that our price was in line,” Orascom Chairman Naguib Sawiris told Reuters in
an interview, adding that he could not say what OT's price was. 

The CPA received 35 bids to provide Iraqi mobile-phone service, and the winners
had been expected to be announced in September. But the Iraqi Minister of
Communications Haider Al-Abadi said today that his appointment Sept. 4 delayed the
process.

“The process of selecting the winning bids was well under way before my
appointment as minister of communications on Sept. 4. I could not have given my
approval without a careful examination of the process that led to the final
selection,” said Al-Abadi. “In line with best international practice, the bids
were assessed against a list of criteria that had been prepared before the bids
were received. The criteria were designed to ensure an objective and fair
assessment of the merits and failings of each bid. It is this open and transparent
process that has led to the selection of the three consortia that will bring
state-of-the-art mobile communications to Iraq for the first time.”

The bid process was anything but smooth.

Besides bringing Al-Abadi up to speed, the CPA was forced to relax the
foreign-government ownership restriction from 5 percent to 10 percent after a
bidders conference in Amman, Jordan, showed that it would make it difficult for
bidders to qualify.

According to bidding information available at http://www.cpa-Iraq.org, licensees
will have 20 days to turn on initial service. Service is not considered on until
95 percent of the calls in both directions go through. Bidders must outline how
they will meet specific benchmarks, which will become part of the conditions of
the license. The licenses cannot be sold or expanded nationwide until the 12-month
benchmarks are met.

The only company authorized to offer mobile-phone service is the MCI division of
bankrupt WorldCom Inc. MCI received authority from the Department of Defense to
operate a mobile-phone network. It became clear early on that MCI would probably
not be awarded the Baghdad (Central) license, because its parent company has been
barred from government contracts.

The general population of Baghdad did enjoy momentary GSM service in July but
Bahrain Telecommunications Inc. was ordered by the CPA to shut down its new
division, Batelco Iraq, because it was operating a mobile-phone network without a
license. Batelco Iraq began operations July 22 and claimed it handled 3,000 calls
the first day and that its network could handle more than 10,000 calls per day.
Batelco spent $5 million to set up the network. The Bahrain Telecommunications Co.
is owned by the government of Bahrain and Cable & Wireless L.L.C. 

http://rcrnews.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?newsId=15354

------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark
Printer at MyInks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US & Canada.
http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511
http://us.click.yahoo.com/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/61FxlB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/