24 July 2007
Kalimat Telecom, winner of Iraq's first national licence to provide a full-scale wireless network, yesterday awarded a $275 million infrastructure contract to Huawei Technologies.
The Kalimat-Huawei Memorandum of Understanding is one of several Kalimat agreements made this week, and is part of a wider $1 billion pledge to provide Iraq with a national wireless network.
Representatives from the company said they hope to enter every home, business, governmental and non-governmental institution in the country and deliver five million code division multiple access (CDMA) lines of service by 2011. The $1 billion consortium won the ten-year wireless licence from Iraq's Communications and Media Commission in September 2006.
"This is the first time Iraq is witnessing a full-scale deployment of fixed wireless technology across the country, not just in urban clusters, but in remote areas as well," said Wilson Varghese, president and chief executive officer of Kalimat. "Kalimat Telecom will be the first to serve not only the Iraqi household but also its up and coming small and medium enterprise market," he added.
Huawei will execute the project in four phases beginning in September 2007. The Chinese technology vendor will supply and provide deployment services for CDMA base stations and help create an all-IP network infrastructure. In addition to providing voice telephony services for local, national and international calling, access to the the internet (including broadband access), Kalimat will also deploy WiMAX technology, which provides wireless date over long distances in Iraq. "We aim to create the Middle East's largest wireless network," added Varghese.
Kalimat Telecom, winner of Iraq's first national licence to provide a full-scale wireless network, yesterday awarded a $275 million infrastructure contract to Huawei Technologies.
The Kalimat-Huawei Memorandum of Understanding is one of several Kalimat agreements made this week, and is part of a wider $1 billion pledge to provide Iraq with a national wireless network.
Representatives from the company said they hope to enter every home, business, governmental and non-governmental institution in the country and deliver five million code division multiple access (CDMA) lines of service by 2011. The $1 billion consortium won the ten-year wireless licence from Iraq's Communications and Media Commission in September 2006.
"This is the first time Iraq is witnessing a full-scale deployment of fixed wireless technology across the country, not just in urban clusters, but in remote areas as well," said Wilson Varghese, president and chief executive officer of Kalimat. "Kalimat Telecom will be the first to serve not only the Iraqi household but also its up and coming small and medium enterprise market," he added.
Huawei will execute the project in four phases beginning in September 2007. The Chinese technology vendor will supply and provide deployment services for CDMA base stations and help create an all-IP network infrastructure. In addition to providing voice telephony services for local, national and international calling, access to the the internet (including broadband access), Kalimat will also deploy WiMAX technology, which provides wireless date over long distances in Iraq. "We aim to create the Middle East's largest wireless network," added Varghese.
© 7Days 2007
