July 28, 2003
ET, call Iraq?
Phone users in Baghdad had a brief interlude of phone service until corporate America's managers realized that it might reduce the value of the monopolies they planned to create:
The U.S.-led authority in Iraq -- which wants to hold a tender for three regional mobile phone licences -- asked Batelco to shut down. A renegade service provider could throw a spanner into its plans for a tender for the licences, among the most potentially lucrative contracts to be offered in Iraq.Hmmm, also the military may want to maintain the 'secret state' for a while more.Iraq was frozen out of a global boom in personal portable phones by Saddam's secret state. But mobile phones sprang unexpectedly to life a week ago, delighting cellphone users who could make and receive calls around the world.
Via David Marston at Catallarchy.
Posted by Steve on July 28, 2003
