A quick rollout of mobile telephone services in Iraq looks increasingly unlikely as the Pentagon probes alleged corruption in the awarding of licences, the Middle East Economic Survey (MEES) reported.
Iraq's ministry of communications had stressed the systems must be operational within two months when contracts were signed with three consortiums on Oct. 6.
Egypt's Orascom Telecom Holding, Kuwait's National Mobile Telecommunications (AsiaCell) and Kuwait's Mobile Telecommunications Company (AtheerTel) were even put into a race where the first to establish a system in its designated area would then be able to start competing in the other two regions.
However, predictions that Iraq would have a mobile network in place by the end of the year "are looking increasingly unlikely, because the signing of the contracts has been delayed by a Pentagon investigation into allegations of corruption in the license awards," the newsletter says.
The Financial Times reported last week that two Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) officials and interim Telecommunications Minister Haidar al-Abbadi, were under investigations over allegations of bribery regarding the Orascom contract.
Orascom and partners deny paying any bribes as does Abbadi.
The industry newsletter quoted one of the unsuccessful bidders as saying: "There are just too many accusations flying around about special interest groups and individuals with certain connections. They will have to investigate the whole procedure even if it is just to show there is no impropriety.
MEES says: "The current inquiry, which is in a preliminary stage, is apparently being conducted by the Pentagon Inspector General's Office following claims that the contracts were awarded on the basis of political connections rather than on technical merit."
"As soon as the awards were made they sparked controversy with many alleging that the procedure was not sufficiently transparent and favored special interest groups particularly from within the current ruling circles in Iraq," adds the Cyprus-based newsletter.
Orascom has been chosen for the central region which includes Baghdad, AsiaCell for the north, and AtheerTel for the south.
Last week, Kuwait's Mobile Telecommunications Co said its southern network has been delayed for security reasons, but insisted the project will go ahead.
Until the new systems are up and running, Iraq remains the only country in the Middle East and North Africa not to have a mobile network.
Cairo’s new monorail slices across the city skyline, running above the familiar chaos of blaring horns and aging buses’ exhaust fumes that mark rush hour below. The US$4.5 billion monorail, opened this month, is among Egypt’s most prominent new transport projects, part of a debt-funded infrastructure drive criticized for sapping state finances while bringing limited benefits to most of the country’s 109 million people. “It feels like you’re in a different country,” said Ramy Sayed, a restaurant manager, aboard a driverless Innovia 300 train. “No noise, no traffic, we’re not used to this.” The eastern line runs 56km from the bustling middle-class
Taiwanese firms have increased investment in the Philippines in recent years as Manila’s ties with Washington deepen and global supply chains continue to shift away from China, an expert at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. The Philippines had not been among Taiwanese investors’ top choices in Southeast Asia, CIER Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center director Kristy Hsu (徐遵慈) said at a seminar in Taipei. However, Taiwan’s investment in the country has grown significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching US $257 million last year, a high in recent years, she said. Although Taiwan’s total investment in the Philippines still lags
Intel Corp regards Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) as a longstanding partner, as the US chipmaker would continue outsourcing production of advanced chips to TSMC, Intel chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) said yesterday. “I don’t look at people as competitors. I look at the collaboration... Nvidia is also, you know, a good friend,” Tan told a news conference following his keynote speech at the Computex trade show in Taipei. “It’s a very trusted partnership for us... We are a big, top customer for them, and we’re going to continue doing that,” he said, referring to TSMC, the world’s largest foundry
Artificial intelligence (AI) agents would supplant smartphones as the center of people’s digital lives, fundamentally reshaping personal devices and driving a major computing upgrade cycle, Qualcomm Inc CEO Cristiano Amon said yesterday. In his keynote speech for this year’s Computex trade show in Taipei, Amon said that the rise of "agentic AI" — AI systems capable of reasoning, planning and carrying out tasks autonomously — would transform how people interact with technology across phones, PCs, vehicles and wearable devices. Describing the technology as the next major evolution in computing, Amon said that "2026 is the year of agents.” For decades, smartphones have sat
RSS