Iraqi government hopes to auction a fourth mobile operator licence for around USD 2 billion by the end of the year and will spend USD 500 million on upgrading battered infrastructure. Communications Minister Mohammed Allawi said Iraq aimed to boost fixed-line phone penetration and internet reach to 25 percent within five years, the Gulf Daily News reported. Allawi said the holder of the fourth licence will have three shareholders. Of the shares 40 percent will go to the operator, 35 percent to the public, and 25 percent to the ministry. Iraq held an auction in 2007 in which Kuwait's Zain, AsiaCell and Korek, which is based in the northern Kurdish region, bought 15-year licences for USD 1.25 billion each. Allawi said he expected the fourth mobile phone licence to go for USD 2 billion at auction. The licence would be approved and issued by Iraq's Communications and Media Commission. He also said Iraq had allocated USD 500 million to spend on the telecoms industry this year, which included 37 percent of last year's unspent budget allocation. The minister said while network jamming by security forces was partly to blame for patchy mobile coverage, the operators' infrastructure had been unable to cope with growing demand. Allawi said completing an extensive fibre-optic infrastructure network to connect Iraq to the rest of the world would be one of his main aims for this year.
