Prior to the Gulf war, Iraqi businesses and citizens relied for their communications need on government owned services. While telecommunication and Internet services in Iraq are still not available for the community at large, satellite based communication services have found their way in and became the way that Iraqis use to communicate with the rest of the world.
With the establishment of the Al-Zakira café, Iraqis have a reliable communications channel to get in touch with their loved ones at an affordable cost. The Internet café was the brainchild of Ahmed Gholami and Samer Istifo, two electrical engineers working in computer trade. They established the Al-Zakira office specializing in computer and network services in 1993. Their third partner in the café is a friend, Shawkat Dawood, a former employee of the Iraqi ministry of industry.
They were able to provide Internet and email services using Inmarsat's latest service - Regional BGAN, which they brought to Iraq from Jordan. It was one of Istifo's relatives living abroad who sent it to him.
Inmarsat launched Regional BGAN in 2002, to serve businesses, banks and media, who travel to areas lacking a reliable terrestrial communication infrastructure. Regional BGAN technology enables users to send and receive data at speeds of up to 144 kbit/s via a secure shared channel. Pricing is based on data usage, not on the time the browser spends on the net.
It is estimated locally that Iraq needs to invest around $12 billion in the communication and information technology sector, to establish a new communication center with adequate networks for all 18 Iraqi cites that suffered from damage and old technologies. They also need to establish new terrestrial networks, high bandwidth networks, high-speed fiber optic cables and other tools to facilitate data transfer.
The decision of the American civilian administration to hold the custom tariff on goods imported into Iraq until the end of this year will facilitate operations. Also it is expected that the new customs law, which will be implemented at the beginning of next year, will encourage the imports of high tech devices and equipment including communication tools, to support investment in this sector, especially after the declaration of American civilian administration officials, for its intention to privatise many of public institutions. Therefore opportunities will open up for Inmarsat to place their footprint in this promising market. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
