Iraq plans to award the previously announced fourth mobile network license in the first quarter of next year, the country's Minister of Communications, Farouq Abdul-Qadir Abdulrahman has told reporters. He also said that the new operator will be expected to provide "competitive rates" to existing operators, as the war-torn country focuses on improving telecom services.
Fifteen companies, including USA-based Verizon Communications, South Africa's MTN, Turkcell, UAE's Etisalat, France Telecom, and Vodafone had expressed an interest so far, he added.
It transpires that the license has already technically been awarded to the state-owned Iraqi Telecommunications and Posts Co (ITPC), and the government is now looking for the outside investor to build the network.
"We are looking for a partner to operate it (the license) for us ... We said we will have a condition of taking a minimum of 30 percent of the revenue as we are going to provide the infrastructure, everything," he added.
The country has three operators, Zain, Asiacell and Korek Telecom.
On the web: The Peninsula
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