Jasim Mohammed Jaffar – Acting Communications Minister

Dear Mr Chairman

Your Excellencies the Ministers…

Respected Ladies and Gentlemen…

First of all, I would like to thank the Iraq Development Program for their efforts in making this summit happen, which greatly contributes in meeting the technical demands for Iraq 's defence and communications sectors.

The Ministry of Communications is considered the official institutional party responsible for planning communications policies and strategies as well as exchanging information. It also represents Iraq in the International Events of Communications and Technology.

Prior to the liberation, there was no Ministry for Communications, with this vital sector neglected under the toppled regime. Investments in this sector were so limited that the landline phone subscriber's percentage was 5.6% of the population. As a result of the Gulf War in 1991, this proportion has decreased to 4%, which is the fewest among neighbouring countries to Iraq . The communications infrastructure, including international communications, has also been damaged due to the 2003 war.

After 2003, the communications sector saw huge developments in comparison with other sectors, especially in mobile phone services where three national licenses have been awarded to three (GSM) operators for the first time in Iraq . The development also included building fibre-optic cable networks and national (DWDM) systems with a (DMDW) network to be built for the Baghdad area soon. Work is also underway to execute the FLAG project that reaches to Europe in the west and to China and Japan in the east.

There are 333 landline telephone networks in Iraq , 71 of which are out of service due to malfunction and lack of spare parts, but developments have also been made to this sector with 10 new network projects being executed to connect the main cities of Iraq as part of the Japanese donation program. Contracts have been signed to supply and install next generation's networks NGN, which has a capacity of 560,000 lines, some of which have already arrived in Iraq .

Another important project will commence, and that is the Japanese loan project with a capacity of 866,000 lines is based on the Internet Protocol and a house-connected network of optic cables. This project is expected to increase the level of telephone users to reach 10.92% by 2012.

In addition to the above, work has commenced to operate WLL systems with a capacity of 150,000 lines to cover the Baghdad and Najaf areas. Contracts have been signed with private sector companies to operate other WLL systems and ensure the service can reach all parts of the country. The lack of Internet usage has motivated the Ministry to grant licenses to many private companies to provide Internet services through WIMAX, DSL and dial-up networks.

The postal service has also enjoyed its share of development, with a plan put in place to increase the number of post offices by 420, supplied with a computerized postal system that is able to provide banking services and to expand these services through connection-agreements with other countries.

During my last visit to the GSMA Mobile World Congress exhibit that was held in Barcelona on 11-14 February, I have seen that there is a huge development in communications and IT technologies and that the G3 system, which is currently active in many advanced countries. The next G4 system, which works by combining many voice, data and video technologies at the same time via mobile devices, will make security control more difficult. And so, all governments and countries that work to prevent security breaches of their borders will need special and advanced technologies to maintain an active and vital role in controlling terrorism and securing borders.

The Government of Iraq and the Ministry of Communications have both paid special attention to international communications. The government has decided to put International Portals under the control of the government and not the Private Sector Companies for more security control and economic revenues. The communications sector, especially international communications and the Internet, requires special attention by the Ministry to impose security control, particularly when experiencing the critical security situation Iraq is currently going through.

But despite the Ministry's efforts and its futuristic projects, the way to reconstruct the communications sector in Iraq still long and exhaustive. We need the support of all efforts and contributions, especially by the private sector to invest in Iraq in order for better communication services and national security protection.