17 June 2008
KUWAIT: President and CEO of KALIMAT Telecom Ltd Wilson Varghese yesterday announced the commercial launch of KALIMAT Telecom in Kirkuk, Iraq, the first 3.5 telecom network in the country.
Varghese noted, "We currently have a capital of $100 million and will be expanding on that amount.
The company won its license to operate in Iraq in 2006. KALIMAT CMO Razak explained, "Our license is for ten years and we will invest $400 million in Iraq our expected revenue in ten years time is $1.5 billion." Currently KALIMAT has invested about $80 million in Iraq says CEO Varghese.
He stated the license is extendible to five more years. Varghese explained that the venture is one of the largest wireless networks ever undertaken in the Middle East which provides 3.5 and 4 G services.
Razak said, "There are about 12 million fixed lines in Iraq and only 1 million are currently operable." While the company's current focus is Iraq, Varghese noted its venturing into the Kuwait market saying, "We will invest about US$150 million in IPtv... it is under negotiation.
Varghese explained KALIMAT's future goals saying, "For 2009 we are targeting a subscriber number of 150,000," He noted, "The market share will be about 20 percent." Varghese's expectations for the future reflect a major increase in subscriber base. "The company expects subscriber base to eventually increase to two million," he said. In 36 months, KALIMAT expects to see a return on its initial investment.
KALIMAT is a consortium of telecommunication vendors. The closed share company experts will work toward building and maintaining a competitive integrated network with the currently existing mobile and PSTN networks. The company intends on bringing the newest technology to Iraq's wireless market. In the initial stage, the majority of populated areas in Iraq will receive the coverage. This aspect of KALIMAT's plan requires large-scale investment in Iraq's infrastructure.
Within its larger goal of providing a state of the art network to the Iraq community, some key services KALIMAT intends to provide it's Iraq based customers are; voice telephony for local, national and international calls, broadband Internet access, WiMAX technology, wireless local loop voice services, wireless data services, unified messaging, multimedia delivery, web-based access to customer billing and payment and more. All the telecom technology will be offered in Iraq including 'Soft Switch technology.
The KALIMAT brand has a stated goal which is keen on embodying the values of the Iraqi people along with company shareholders. CMO Razak stated, "95 percent of our employees are Iraqi and that is one reason for the company's success." The companies stated mission is to "evolve into an innovative provider of value added telecom services for consumers and businesses in the state of Iraq by delivering superior services to clients with outstanding returns to the local economy and superior returns to its shareholders.
KUWAIT: President and CEO of KALIMAT Telecom Ltd Wilson Varghese yesterday announced the commercial launch of KALIMAT Telecom in Kirkuk, Iraq, the first 3.5 telecom network in the country.
Varghese noted, "We currently have a capital of $100 million and will be expanding on that amount.
The company won its license to operate in Iraq in 2006. KALIMAT CMO Razak explained, "Our license is for ten years and we will invest $400 million in Iraq our expected revenue in ten years time is $1.5 billion." Currently KALIMAT has invested about $80 million in Iraq says CEO Varghese.
He stated the license is extendible to five more years. Varghese explained that the venture is one of the largest wireless networks ever undertaken in the Middle East which provides 3.5 and 4 G services.
Razak said, "There are about 12 million fixed lines in Iraq and only 1 million are currently operable." While the company's current focus is Iraq, Varghese noted its venturing into the Kuwait market saying, "We will invest about US$150 million in IPtv... it is under negotiation.
Varghese explained KALIMAT's future goals saying, "For 2009 we are targeting a subscriber number of 150,000," He noted, "The market share will be about 20 percent." Varghese's expectations for the future reflect a major increase in subscriber base. "The company expects subscriber base to eventually increase to two million," he said. In 36 months, KALIMAT expects to see a return on its initial investment.
KALIMAT is a consortium of telecommunication vendors. The closed share company experts will work toward building and maintaining a competitive integrated network with the currently existing mobile and PSTN networks. The company intends on bringing the newest technology to Iraq's wireless market. In the initial stage, the majority of populated areas in Iraq will receive the coverage. This aspect of KALIMAT's plan requires large-scale investment in Iraq's infrastructure.
Within its larger goal of providing a state of the art network to the Iraq community, some key services KALIMAT intends to provide it's Iraq based customers are; voice telephony for local, national and international calls, broadband Internet access, WiMAX technology, wireless local loop voice services, wireless data services, unified messaging, multimedia delivery, web-based access to customer billing and payment and more. All the telecom technology will be offered in Iraq including 'Soft Switch technology.
The KALIMAT brand has a stated goal which is keen on embodying the values of the Iraqi people along with company shareholders. CMO Razak stated, "95 percent of our employees are Iraqi and that is one reason for the company's success." The companies stated mission is to "evolve into an innovative provider of value added telecom services for consumers and businesses in the state of Iraq by delivering superior services to clients with outstanding returns to the local economy and superior returns to its shareholders.
By Ahmad Al-Khaled
© Kuwait Times 2008
