The Iraqi subsidiary of Middle Eastern telco Zain is to launch a “fully fledged” network in the country’s Kurdish region, Kurdistan, newly appointed Zain Iraq CEO Emad Makiya has told Reuters.
The network should be up and running by next January, with…
The Iraqi subsidiary of Middle Eastern telco Zain is to launch a “fully fledged” network in the country’s Kurdish region, Kurdistan, newly appointed Zain Iraq CEO Emad Makiya has told Reuters.
The network should be up and running by next January, with some 1 million to 2 million subscribers signing up during the year and boosting revenue by an estimated 15-20%, he said.
Describing Iraq as a high growth market, he described the country as Zain’s “baby” and an area the parent company planned to nurture with further investment. After paying US$1.25bn for a 15-year licence three years ago, Zain Iraq has invested US$4.5bn in its network.
Over the next three years, the Zain subsidiary is reportedly planning to spend 16-20%of its annual revenue on network improvement and expansion.
The operator is now testing 3G services, which it hopes to provide once a licence becomes available. Otherwise, it would be able to enter 3G via an acquisition of a data or fibre optic operator.
Zain, according to the article is Iraq’s leading mobile operator with some 54% of the market. It is trailed by rivals AsiaCell and Korek, which operates in Kurdistan. Last summer, the government said it would issue a fourth mobile licence.
According to Telegeography, the Iraqi mobile market in March 2010 could be broken down as such: Zain (10.07 million users, or a 48.4% market share), Asiacell (7.74 million users, or 37.2% of the market), Korek Telecom (2.49 million users, or 12% of the market) and regional operator SanaTel (500,000 users, or 2.4% of the market).
Makiya brushed off government fines for poor coverage, which he blamed on jamming by US and Iraqi military operations.
In the first half of this year, Zain Iraq reported a 10% jump in revenue to US$723.9m.
