The communication and mail services in Iraq were available too early, where the Internet was used by centers or by telephone modem and wireless communications in a narrow range , but in the field of the state earlier. As the Thuraya phones associated with the satellite were used prior to 2003,it was the only reliable means, but it has been experiencing some of the determinants of the spread, since it is expensive for citizens where the salaries of the most of them were under $ 150 a month, in addition to the device costs $ 600, and the cost of connection to up one dollar per minute on average.
After 2003 the Internet and wireless communications have entered to Iraq in a wide range and have become accessible to everyone, where there are now many Internet service providers via satellite, and at the same time the number of subscribers of landline phone lines are increasing in Iraq , which amounted to about one million and a half million subscribers, and mobile phones about 14 million users.
New technology is the driving force behind the rapidly changing workplace. the means of communication are the most prominent secretions of modern technology , which has proven for its effective role in moving the wheel of development in other fields of life, but in Iraq , the companies working in the telecommunications sector were dominated by corruption and greed , the Undersecretary of the Ministry of the environment Jassim al-Falahi said (1) in an interview on the sidelines of the national conference held by Women journalists without borders and human rights organizations in the Middle East under the motto of (mobile phone companies hit the environment ) in Palestine hotel in the center of Baghdad , ” the ministry noted the widespread and significant expansion of the towers of mobile phones among the residential places and alleys and near schools , health institutions , despite the existence of controls and limitation s that prevent it. ”
Al-Falahi added,” The mobile phone companies did not respond with instructions and legal controls to install its towers and they have been notified more than once about the environmental standards of the determinants of these towers and standards of frequencies to be used but it did not respond to us ” .
legally (2) the legal expert Tareq Harb explained on 13 / November / 2014 that mobile phone companies contracts were signed away from the provisions of the law, and stressed that those companies were paying billion and a quarter of a billion to the government in 2007, calling for the increase of the amount of the contract in 2014 because of the increasing number of subscribers, whose number were five million subscribers , and in 2014 the number was exceeded of 25 million subscribers; and Harb stressed that the signing of a contract with the telecom companies for 15 years is the “monopolistic issue.”
A member of the legal committee in the House Representatives from the bloc of Fadhalah Hassan al – Shammari pointed out that the the signing of the CMC of the contract for the use of third -generation frequencies with the telecommunications companies is a violation of the law and a large waste of public money calling on the prime minister to stop the contract and check its legality, and the CMC should be abide by the law (2).
Al-Shammari ” added the waste of public money is that the financial revenue due to be paid by the three companies: (Asiacell ,Zain, Cork) combined to the public treasury of the state is too little and it is amounted (921) $ million for the next seven years , ” pointing out that “this represents a tremendous loss to the right of the State compared with the huge profits earned by the companies and to clarify by the figures, and according to data announced by the companies about what they get from the profit rate monthly, and the increasing number of subscribers spread over the three companies and the majority with the Kuwaiti company “Zen” and the rate of profit “12” dollars a month for each subscriber for the service of Contact only without profits of messages, advertisements and Internet . ”
and according to al – Shammari , the total minimum of the profits that may be obtained by companies amounted (three billion and 456 million dollars) for an amount not up to one billion paid to the state, adding that it is not paid immediately, but within a year and a half year, adding that “it will not cost companies any amount for its own account and will pay it from the profits to be reaped in one year.”, in addition to poor service and high prices.
Tariq Harb , the legal adviser pointed out (3) that the contract was for a long time of 15 years and amounting to one amount that does not change and paid by companies to the government in spite of the expansion in employment and the increase of the number of phones, and that the amount in the contract which was paid in 2007 , it was the same as the amount they paid in 2015 and the contract will continue itself into the year 2022, noting that this contract did not guarantee the rights of the state, and the rights of citizens from the arbitrariness of those companies.
and the expert explained that after the transfer of sales tax imposed on telecommunications companies to Purchases tax scheduled to subscribers , the ministers and heads of agencies in 2007 did not notice the guaranty of the rights of the state and the people in front of those companies!
the matter has been presented before the administrative judicial Court , which judged that no right to the communications and media Commission to proceed with the signing of the contract, but despite with all of this the corruption continued and became spread like wildfire in the absence of monitoring and accounting for private sector companies operating in the country especially the telecommunications companies which exploited the exceptional circumstances in which we live to make outrageous profits on the poor citizen ‘s account.
the parliamentary committee for services and construction revealed that the mobile phone companies operating in the country , “Zain Iraq, Asiacell, Korek” took advantage of the citizen in the ugliest way when applied settling accounts system in seconds since 2011, asserting that thefts by Using this system have been disclosed to the eyes of those responsible destinations (4)
A member of the Commission on the national list , Dr. Sabah al – Tamimi said : these companies applied the system and its application was entitled that it is for the benefit of the citizen to afford wages of actual call and not wage of a full minute for its parts , “seconds of them,” in addition to that this method of calculation was referred to in the license contract.
Al- Tamimi added, “this system rather than to be for the interests of the citizen , it became a curse upon him that he is bearing amounts to exceed the ones which were borne according to the system of minutes , as a result of clear error in the application of this system , ” indicating that ” the error was in the fixing of the per second rate by 2 Dinars for a call within the network and four dinars abroad, while it was supposed that the minute rate to be divided according to the seconds system to 60 seconds; to fix the per second rate. ”
Al- Tamimi pointed out ” as a result of this procedure , the minute rate has become within the network according to the payment system in seconds 120 dinars after it was 90 dinars according to the minutes system , that means the increase is 33.3% and borne by the citizen, while the per minute rate outside the network , was up to 240 dinars after it was 110 dinars of the minutes system noting a difference of 118% , and this increase is borne by the citizens as well , “indicating that in a” simple mathematical equation , the number of minutes offered by shipping card with 10 thousand dinars credit to the call outside the network according to the system of minutes is equal to 90 minutes while the number of minutes provided with the same credit according to the the existing seconds system , which is 41 minutes in the sense that the number of minutes that the citizens lost from the credit of the shipping card from 10 000 dinars a class is 49 minutes and the remaining to him 41 minutes out of 90 minutes , in the sense that the loss ratio in the credit is equal of 54.4 percent of the total credit. ”
the same source added that the role of the commission of media and communications is the regulatory and supervisory and monitory to serve the interests of citizens , but this error was not corrected and continued to burden the citizen these amounts from the date of application of this procedure, and Tamimi warned that ” the budget law , which added 20% of the sales tax on shipping cards to make the citizen is the first loser , as his loss of credit has become by 3.62%.”
At the same system of revealing the corruption , the parliamentary finance committee member Haitham al – Jubouri noted to the presence of great theft and corrupted files in the CMC, news conference (5)
and that corruption and irregularities with respect to increasing the profits of telecommunications companies amounted to 250% after it replaced the system of calculation from minutes to the seconds , adding that profit realized comes to the account of fooling of the ordinary citizen .
Among the forms of corruption in this sector that the media and communications made the work monopolized on the three companies , namely: (Asia Seal company, Zain and Cork ) based on several arguments , including the risk of working in Iraq and being to provide an inexpensive service to the citizen and being offer the cheapest bids, and to replace them is a waste of time! And If we compared with companies in other countries to have seen that it provides 7 times to the service of other countries.
al – Jubouri pointed out that the service’s 3G contract does not contain a clause allowing the three companies (Asia Seal, Zain, and Cork) to have a monopoly of any round of new licenses, stressing that the Commission has a monopoly of the service for them!
the chairman of the commission justifies that the mentioned service , give privileges to citizens we do not want that citizen to lose those advantages , there are serious risks if we have introduced new companies and this is a waste of time, but reality shows that those arguments are flimsy as the introduction of a new corporate prevents the market from monopoly to competition increasing the diversity , offers and services provided to the customer and become competitive prices for the benefit of the citizens, and increase the state revenues from these companies, while a 3G price in Morocco 1 GB = $ 2 , it has in Iraq , $ 15.
He added that all the trustees of the Authority signed on the dismissal of head of the Executive of the authority and for 8 months from the date above and the government ‘s approval has not been done on the dismissal at that time .
The parliamentary economic and investment committee called on the Communications Commission to prepare a paper on reforms to the work of the mobile phone companies. (6)
the committee member Abdul – Salam al – Maliki revealed in a news conference in the presence of a number of MPs ” the violation of companies to a clause obliged it to invest up to75% of its imports in projects within the country.”
He disclosed that the mobile phone companies, take over a large share of the revenues of the country, as: “sap a day worth to 15% of the oil revenues by communication service, without the state to learn the fate of these amounts also revealed:” the participants in these companies amounted to millions also revealed that the amount of money transferred by those companies out of the country, exceeded seven billion dollars , which was supposed to be the ones accounted for 75% of investment within the country .. the equivalent of almost $ 5.5 billion and to ensure the commitment of those companies to the terms of the agreement signed with it and by the formation of specialized committees to undertake to put the accountability mechanisms to ensure no recurrence of such manipulations ” .
al – Maliki , a parliamentary member called on the communications Commission and the monitory authorities to “apply all the terms of contracts for mobile phone companies and internet retroactively for all years, and that is forcing these companies to pay what is in its receivables of funds and dues, otherwise the concerned authorities have to cancel their contracts and compel it to abide by the punitive clause , and contracting with other companies of more credibility and professionalism. ” All of this reveals that the mobile phone companies, take over a large share of the revenues of the country.
It is worth mentioning , and also that the document (7) states that some countries that its national companies have implemented the mobile phone project, and having operated the first networks ,taking advantage from it on the sale of a second license with a huge amounts achieved good revenue for its coffers for example: sold to Sudan the second license of $ (150) $ million and Algeria with (735) $ million, Tunisia (450) $ million, Morocco (1.1) $ billion, Turkey ( 2.5 ) $ billion, Austria (1) $ billion, and England (2) $ billion.
In the Kingdom of Bahrain , the telecommunications was a state company and then became a public company and Iran entered into an agreement with an Iranian company to develop a network of (Shat), operate , and develop it and cover the whole of Iranian territory to strengthen its center and support the price before selling part of it.
while the United Arab Emirates is still a state – owned company that it did not sell any license yet noting that the the profits of the UAE ‘s telecommunications company has reached of the last six months (388) $ million, and the Maroc telecom company achieved annual profits for the last year amounted to $ 650 million.
Iraq has to make the project of a mobile phone services Iraqis as the first non – oil project that generates national funds to the treasury of Iraq in which the county take advantage from it for the construction of Iraq, but Iraq also as it was pointed out by the last investment Law , was offered for sale publicly and privately.
In conclusion , it is necessary to confirm the interest in this sector, as it has real importance, Iraq can maximize its revenues through it , and that makes it a companion with the oil sector or contributor with it to a large extent, in the country ‘s development, but in the beginning , it must to stand firm in the face of corruption that rive it to the bone , and the development of plans and laws and the necessary legislation and work hard to implement, this sector to be able to perform the role it is hoped from it, to contribute to the achievement of a fair revenue to meet development needs, and to provide adequate service to the citizen that meets his aspirations.
Shatha Khalil
Translated by : Mudhaffar Alkusairi
Rawabet Center for Research and Strategic Studies