Cullen International published a new version of its Telecoms "Country Profiles" for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. This updated edition now also includes coverage of Iraq, in addition to the 11 MENA countries previously covered.

The country profiles provide in-depth coverage of the telecoms sector in each country: the policies and strategies; regulatory agenda; the main legislation and regulatory instruments; the licensing framework; and market statistics.

In Iraq, although the draft telecoms law was put before the parliament in 2009, it has still not yet been adopted, with the CMC regulating the sector based on the order established in 2004. The draft law will retain the status quo with regards to the fixed and international connectivity markets.

The fixed network and international gateways are owned and operated by the Iraqi Telecommunication and Post Company (ITPC), the state-owned company supervised by the Ministry of Communications.

The mobile market has three operators but with none of them yet deploying a 4G network. The proposed law does not allow any operator other than ITPC to roll out cables or to deploy any fixed telecoms infrastructure.

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