The $10,000 Mobile Phone Bill Forces MCI Mobile Phones Off In Iraq

from the whoooops dept

Remember last year when everyone was a bit surprised that MCI was providing mobile phone service in Iraq? After all, this was a disgraced, bankrupt (still) company that didn't even offer mobile service in the US -- and somehow they were providing it in Iraq. Well, now those phones are being shut off, after a little glitch where many users of the mobile phones in Iraq never received any bills, making them think that the $1.25/minute calls were actually free. The end result? $10,000+ phone bills finally started showing up. The State Department, believing they've already put enough money into the "rebuild MCI" fund, has ordered the phones turned off and told people to start using the phones on their desks instead.
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



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.