Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Sen. Burns satisfied with Iraqi phone licensing process

From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2003 14:18:07 -0400

Sen. Burns satisfied with Iraqi phone licensing process
By Jeffrey Silva
October 14 13:19:00, 2003

WASHINGTON—A key Senate lawmaker who pushed for technology neutrality in efforts
to build wireless infrastructure in Iraq, today said he is satisfied with the
process that awarded three mobile-phone licenses, which will all use European GSM
technology, and does not plan to pursue congressional oversight to examine why
American-developed CDMA technology will be locked out of the war-torn country for
now.

“I think the bidding was open, transparent and fair,” said Sen. Conrad Burns
(R-Mont.), chairman of the Senate communications subcommittee, at a press briefing
on the return of a congressional delegation to Iraq and Afghanistan.

GSM technology is widely used in countries surrounding Iraq and throughout the
region.
Burns said he would have like to have seen a North American technology used in
Iraqi mobile-phone systems and held out the possibility that could still happen.
One of the top applicants in the mobile-phone license competition planned to
deploy CDMA technology.

Burns’ support for the Iraqi wireless licensing decision, following speeches in
recent weeks warning against favoring one technology over another, comes as the
Bush administration embarks on a public-relations effort to emphasize the progress
made in Iraqi reconstruction.

http://rcrnews.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?newsId=15468

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