MTC Group sponsors Visiongain's Conference on Wireless Services in Iraq

The conference will be held in London on January 26th and 27th 2005, and will provide a meeting point for companies operating or willing to operate in the Iraqi wireless market.

Mr. Ali Al Dahwi, President of MTC Atheer in Iraq, and key speaker at the conference, said: "We are very pleased that there is a forum of such magnitude being held on one of the most important topics today in Iraq, which is the telecommunications sector. MTC Atheer aspires to continue with the cooperation of the Ministry of Telecommunication in Iraq and its 100% Iraqi workforce to develop and provide one of the basic livelihood services for the Iraqi people. These services enable our customers to communicate with each other whenever needed". He added, "We are sponsoring WIRELESS SERVICES IN IRAQ because MTC stands at the vanguard of the mobile telecommunication sector. MTC is already present in 5 countries across the region (Kuwait, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan and Bahrain), and wants to bring to its customers an enriched mobile community where services, technology and customer care revolve around the needs of customers wherever they are".

Held at a crucial time in the history of Iraq, WIRELESS SERVICES IN IRAQ provides a forum to discuss the technical, financial and logistical challenges to deploy wireless services in Iraq. Participants will meet key business leaders and contractors who will examine the investment, trading and contracting opportunities in Iraq's wireless network.

Presentations given over the two days will include:
•First hand experience from Iraqi operators on deploying wireless services, from Ali Al-Dahwi, President of Atheer Telecom, Steve Hobbs, Managing Partner, Acre Consultants, and former CTO of AsiaCell
•Overview of Iraq's regulatory regime and the opportunities and challenges it creates: presentations by Art Bresnahan, Counsel at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, who helped set up Iraq's telecom regulatory authority, and from Tom Phillips, Government & Regulatory Affairs Officer at the GSM Association
•Presentations on the technical aspects of deploying wireless services in Iraq: Jeff Richardson, Director EMEA of leading contractor MCI, Asaad Alnajjar, P.E., Chief Strategy Officer of VoEx, an Iraqi-American vendor
•Security and risk management aspects of developing projects in Iraq: case studies from David Claridge, Managing Director of Janusian Security Risk Management, who worked with Lucent in Iraq.

The event will be preceded by a workshop on TETRA: A Wireless Solution for Iraq's Public Services, which will allow participants to understand how to meet the specific needs of public services such as the police forces in Iraq.

WIRELESS SERVICES IN IRAQ is a unique opportunity to understand how to play a role in the rebuilding of Iraq's wireless telecommunications network.