Kalimat Telecom picks Huawei Technologies to deliver USD1bn Iraq national wireless network

The Kalimat-Huawei Memorandum of Understanding, signed this morning in the presence of Kalimat's President and CEO, Mr. Wilson Varghese and Mr. Li Huang, Vice President Huawei Tech. Investment Corp, is one of several Kalimat agreements formalized this week.

A USD 1 billion consortium of specialist vendors assembled by Kuwait-based Trade Links Middle East, Kalimat Telecom aims to enter every home, business, governmental and non-governmental institution in Iraq and deliver five million CDMA lines of service by 2011. The consortium won the 10-year wireless license from Iraq's Communications and Media Commission in September 2006.

Huawei, a global leader in telecom network solutions, 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 a top-of-the-line all-IP network infrastructure.

Wilson Varghese, President and CEO of Kalimat Telecom, said Huawei's technology will enable significantly faster and more cost-effective services.

'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,' Varghese said. Kalimat Telecom will be the first to serve not only the Iraqi household but also its up and coming small/medium enterprise market, he added.

'Huawei will play a vital role in Kalimat's planned rollout of the Iraqi wireless local loop (WLL) network, extend its next generation network to more than 5,000 towns and create the Middle East's largest wireless telecom network,' Varghese said. 'We are extremely proud of our association with Huawei, and are confident of delivering on our promises.'

'Our aim is to provide a nationwide state-of-the-art network that can withstand the voice call and data transfer and media volumes predicted over the next 25 years, while remaining versatile and flexible enough to accommodate technologies that will rise during that time,' Varghese said.

In addition to providing voice telephony services for local, national and international calling, access to the Internet (including broadband access), Kalimat will also deploy WiMAX technology - which provides wireless data over long distances - in Iraq.

In January 2006, Iraq was home to more than 1.2 million fixed lines - a penetration rate just over four per cent - with the bulk of fixed line subscribers based in the capital. The cellular market is much stronger in comparison, with 8.7 million subscribers, 30 per cent penetration rate.

Kalimat, Varghese said, will distinguish itself in its market-competitive, transparent and easily understood pricing and service terms.

'Kalimat does not consider itself as much a vendor of services as a partner in Iraq's development,' he said. 'We are careful not to confuse our clients with a wealth of complicated and structured offerings, and will instead tailor our service pricing and packages to suit the entire spectrum of market users.'

Kalimat has also awarded the first Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) contract to Trade Links Communications LLC, bringing in additional revenue above USD 5 million.

Other Kalimat Telecom consortium partners include Voex, which will serve as the operator of the network to be established in Iraq, and Artel Inc., a telecommunications consulting firm based in the United States.