MTC prepares for northern exposure

Iraqi mobile operator MTC Atheer announced on Sunday that it is preparing to roll out GSM services across northern Iraq as part of plans to cover the entire country. The company, a joint venture with Kuwaiti group MTC-Vodafone, launched services in Baghdad in March, after covering the southern region under a December 2003 agreement with the Ministry of Telecoms; it claims to have over 600,000 subscribers.