Call Waiting

‘THE American-led coalition may have won the war in Iraq pretty quickly, but they are doing a fine job of losing the peace.

‘prez bsh u r a wnkr’

The Independent says that a Bahraini company that had established a mobile phone network in Baghdad has been forced to scrap its plans because of US pressure.

The GSM network meant that foreign businessmen and journalists had been able to abandon their expensive satellite phones for the first time.

It had also given ordinary Iraqis access to mobile telephony for the very first time.

But the US authorities want to hold a tender (US-speak for giving the contract to an American company) for what promises to be some of the most lucrative contracts in post-Saddam Iraq.

Rashid al-Snan, regional operations manager of Batelco, said: ‘I feel really sorry – sorry for the Iraqis and sorry for the foreigners who were using the network.

‘It’s a pity we had to stop. We really put in an effort and felt a cheer coming towards us from all over the world.’

Part of the problem is that the United States hasn’t yet decided which technology should be used throughout the three regional networks.

Should it be GSM, as used in Europe, the Middle East and many other parts of the world, or should it be CDMA as used in the United States and, er, nowhere else..?

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Posted: 30th, July 2003 | In: Broadsheets Comment | TrackBack | Permalink