MoC in talks with cellcos over launch of fourth mobile licence

Baghdad-based newspaper al-Sabah reports that the government of Iraq has entered into talks with local mobile operators over the launch of a fourth cellco in the country. ‘After the cabinet approved the licence in principle, the Ministry of Communications (MoC) began to take serious steps to meet many companies with long experience in this area,’ Deputy Minister of Communications Amir Khudair al-Bayati announced. The news follows the MoC’s announcement in July 2009 that it plans to set up and license a mixed public and private sector company to provide mobile services in Iraq. According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, the Iraqi mobile market is currently home to three main mobile operators, all of which received wireless licences in August 2007 for USD1.25 billion; Kuwait-based Zain Iraq, Asiacell Iraq, which is majority-owned by Iraqi investors, and Erbil-based cellco Korek Telecom. As planned, a fourth licence was retained by the MoC.