Iraqi mobile subscribers to increase by 400% (12/09/05)

A leading telecommunications operator in Iraq said that the number of mobile phone subscribers in the country could grow by 400 per cent to about 5 million by the end of 2005.

Moblie phones are hugely popular in Iraq

But MTC Atheer, a joint venture between Kuwait's Mobile Telecommunications Co and Iraq's Atheer Telecom, will not make profits until at least 2007 because Iraqi phone bills are still fairly small, said the firm's Chief Executive.

The company has a market share of between 30 percent and 40 per cent in a country where a conflict pitting insurgents against government troops and US-led forces has taken a huge toll on the civilian population.

MTC Atheer has so far invested more than $430 million in Iraq. MTC Atheer chief executive forecast that revenue per customer would grow as Iraqi incomes rise and consumer appetites grow for services such as text messaging.

Source: Reuters