Shafaq News – Baghdad

Iraq recorded a 413.9 percent increase in fiber-optic internet subscriptions in 2024, rising from 216,800 to 1.1 million users, according to data from the Iraqi Commission of Statistics and Geographic Information Systems.

The growth comes amid the continued rollout of Fiber to the Home (FTTH) services and Next Generation Network infrastructure, which integrates voice, data, and video services into a single platform.

Baghdad registered the highest number of FTTH subscribers at 253,080, accounting for nearly 23 percent of the national total. Across the provinces listed in the report, excluding the Kurdistan Region, FTTH subscriptions reached 716,388.

Meanwhile, southern provinces reported limited uptake of fiber-optic services; Dhi Qar recorded zero FTTH subscribers, while Muthanna reported 533 and Maysan 5,278.

Mobile internet remains Iraq’s primary form of connectivity, with nearly 21.4 million subscribers in 2024. Baghdad led mobile subscriptions with 5.2 million users, followed by Basra with 1.7 million and Nineveh with 1.4 million. In the Kurdistan Region, Al-Sulaymaniyah registered just over 1 million mobile subscribers, while Erbil recorded 586,704.

Infrastructure data showed that Zain and Asiacell, two of Iraq’s major mobile operators, ran over 7 million 4G towers. Baghdad hosted the largest number of towers with 2.5 million.