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By Tony Hallett, 27 May 2004 13:15

NEWS Telecoms must be at the heart of rebuilding Iraq and UK suppliers have a part to play in that market.

That was the overriding message at a UK Department of Trade and Industry gathering in London yesterday that saw the UK's telecoms industry meet with Iraq's nascent telecoms operators.

Directors general of telcos in four southern states, around the city of Basra where UK war efforts were concentrated, were at the centre of an event hosted by trade and investment minister Mike O'Brien.

O'Brien spoke of difficult times in Iraq at the moment but insisted that thoughts must be on the long term.

"Telecoms infrastructure is essential to the future of Iraq," he said. "In the UK we have some of the best innovators and engineers in the world and one of the most competitive markets, with Ofcom the world's leading communications regulator."

A report out this week by the European Competitive Telecommunications Association came to a similar conclusion about Ofcom but the main message was about future business in the Middle East state.

Several of the suppliers in attendance were focusing on wireless as a key tool for the country's development. Though relieved that a spat last year still resulted in the GSM standard, used for mobile communications across Europe and much of the rest of the world, being chosen over CDMA, some talked about CDMA450 potentially being used to connect areas outside of the main cities.

Others were on the look out for contracts relating to areas such as satellite, cabling, switching and equipment testing.

Asked whether the UK, post-war, is winning a decent proportion of contracts, O'Brien told silicon.com: "We can always be doing more. But things are going very well and we're looking towards a long-term relationship."

He singled out BT as a company that is making progress in Iraq.

James Sharp, a Scot who is serving as Coalition Provincial Authority (South) Ministry of Communications advisor, explained how most of Iraq's telecoms infrastructure was either destroyed in last year's conflict or run down, with some French and Japanese switches dating back decades.

There have been surprises, such as thousands of kilometres of fibre found to be reaching the borders of neighbouring countries including Iran, Syria and Turkey, sometimes laid along the routes of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers.

However, teledensity was and remains very low, though as of March, 50,000 Iraqis have become GSM mobile subscribers. Before the war there was no public wireless coverage.

To satisfy demand, the next stages for those rebuilding the communications infrastructure are tenders for about $75m of public switches as well as underground copper and fibre, satellite connections, internet access and access to the FLAG global submarine cable network via Cairo.

Billing infrastructure is still in its early days and it is thought a UK provider is in the running for some parts of contracts.

Sharp added: "The Iraqi people want as much information as possible. Their minds are like sponges."

Sharp presented certificates to the four provincial telecoms DGs at the event after they earlier this week attended the Telecommunications Academy at Coventry University, studying liberalisation and regulation.