Rules Block Many Telcos From Bidding On Wireless Spectrum In Iraq

from the to-the-victors... dept

Earlier this week, the US forced Batelco, a company that had gone out and built a working mobile phone network in Baghdad to shut the system down because they hadn't (oh no!) actually paid the US the right to set up the system. So, the folks in Baghdad are back to no cellular communication. Realizing that Batelco might have a pretty good claim as to why they should get the license to offer service, it appears that the US has written up fairly strict rules on who can bid on the licenses that pretty much disqualify Batelco. They also disqualify large European carriers such as Orange and T-Mobile. Pretty much, they make it so that it really really helps if you're an American carrier.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  1. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 1 Aug 2003 @ 10:17am

    No surprise here

    Iraq is a place of tremendous resources which
    is unfortunately filled with heathen nonhuman natives. If they can be converted it would only
    be for the betterment and glory of God. If not,
    well since they are not God Fearing Christians,
    they will simply have to be shown the proper way.
    And if they won't follow the right way, since they
    are nonhumans it would be a kindness to eliminate
    them, to protect God fearing peoples everwhere.

    Of course they are too foolish to run their own
    country so we will do it for them, out of our
    Christian kindness. We will reward our self-sacrificing businessmen for their efforts in
    bringing civilization to the heathens.


    Anyone else having flashbacks to 17th-18th
    century European colonialism?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 1 Aug 2003 @ 11:20pm

    US stealing out of the Isreali play book?

    One of the first things the Isrealies did when cellular phone service started to take off in the late 80s early 90s was to offer rediculiously low cost cellular telephone servce....

    Of course, all the west bank and gaza strip freed... uh, I mean terrorists use bit of technology in their planning. Oddly, while Isrealie helacopter rocket strikes are amazingly well timed and accurate, they haven't managed to get rid of their little problems.

    Obiously any cellular network installed in Iraq will simply be another element of the eschalon system. That is the US's responsibility and heard earned right as occupiers of a country unwilling to take responsibility for its former leaders. This should have interesting implications for those in Saudi, Joran and Syria wishing to communicate with Iran.

    link to this | view in thread ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.