Iraq plans to issue international tenders by the end of this year to replace the country's three expiring cellphone licences, Iraqi Communications Minister Jowan Massoum said on Friday. The government will hold a conference in London with Arab and global telecom companies in July to gather opinion on the terms and duration of the tenders to replace three licences issued by the US-led occupation authority in 2003.
"Iraq is open to suggestions, but we will not renew the contracts of the existing operators automatically. They will have to compete," Massoum said on the sidelines of an Arab investment conference in Beirut. Egypt's Orascom Telecom holds the licence for central Iraq. Kuwait's MTC covers the south and two mostly Kurdish operators have effectively split the licence for Iraqi Kurdistan.
"We expect huge interest because Iraq is a huge and growing market," Massoum said.
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