Jordan Times
Wednesday, March 24, 2004
Fastlink to set up shop in southern Iraq
By Jumana Bississo
AMMAN — Fastlink announced on Tuesday that it has been awarded a contract to operate and manage a mobile network in the southern region of Iraq.Atheer for Communications — which already has an estimated 10,000-subscriber base, mainly in the prepaid package domain in the area — will be under Fastlink management, Fastlink CEO Mohammad Saqr told The Jordan Times.
Fastlink's mother company — Kuwait's Mobile Telecommunications Company (MTC) — bought out 96 per cent of the company in 2003 and is also part owner of Vodafone. MTC won the third and final licence to set up shop in Iraq in 2003, and handed the reigns over to Fastlink this year.
The two-year contract, worth $120 million, will limit Fastlink's operations to the southern region of Iraq for the first 12 months, after which an assessment of their operations will determine further expansion.
“As per the licence's terms and conditions we [Fastlink] are supposed to deliver on certain coverage and service requirements,” said Saqr.
“Upon the achievement of these deliverables within the time frame needed, which is 12 months, we can extend [our service] nationwide,” he added
“For the first two years we are meant to serve 300,000 subscribers [in the south alone], but... once we are nationwide we are talking about 3 to 4 times that number,” he explained.
The first batch of voluntary Fastlink employees will be deployed to Iraq by the end of the month and join Atheer's 55 technical employees.
“Initially we are going to send between 20 and 25 employees to Iraq and then, based on the requirements, we'll increase or decrease that number,” said Saqr.
“The security situation in Iraq presents logistical complications... so no one is obliged to go, it is purely their choice... the safety of our employees is our utmost priority,” he added.
A Coalition Provisional Authority committee issued the three licences to set up networks in the northern, central and southern regions of Iraq. Each contender had to bid for two of these regions.
“We bid on the southern and central regions, and won the southern part, which is highly populated. Our headquarters will be in Basra,” explained Saqr.
There are currently two mobile companies operating in the northern and central regions — AsiaCell and Iraqna (Orascom) respectively. Fastlink's Atheer will be the third operator.
“We hope we'll be able to compete with them at the end of the 12-month period, and have a nationwide presence,” he continued.
Meanwhile, on the local scene Fastlink has decided to place a projected 20 to 25 per cent of its equity in an Initial Public Offering in the coming months, Saqr said.
“The decision was made last October... and hopefully that will happen when the logistics have been completed, maybe in Q2 or Q3 at the most,” he said.