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Govt. demands USD307m for 3G spectrum [TeleGeography CommsUpdate]
[October 15, 2014]

Govt. demands USD307m for 3G spectrum [TeleGeography CommsUpdate]


(TeleGeography CommsUpdate Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Reuters writes that the Iraqi government is asking the nation's cellcos to pay USD307 million each for 3G spectrum, despite the impact of the region's ongoing security crisis. The trio of operators – Zain Iraq, Asiacell (partly owned by Qatar's Ooredoo Group), and Korek Telecom (part-owned by Orange Group) – have fiercely criticised the proposal, pointing out that the spectrum would only be valid for the remaining eight years of their current operating licences and highlighting the substantial increase in operating costs due to the violent uprising of Sunni group ISIS. As previously noted by CommsUpdate, the government granted the three operators permission to use the 3G frequencies in May this year, ostensibly reversing the previous decision to allocate the spectrum via auction.



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