Iraq's mobile phone companies agree to pay $ 307 million for the third generation frequencies

the three-generation Internet services for mobile phone the speed in the country within two months.

  Iraq is one of the few countries in the Middle East that still dependent on the second-generation networks that do not allow bit for only voice calls, SMS and internet services while the cost of high basic Internet fixed lines cannot be relied on.

The three mobile operators in Iraq are waiting since the past several years to launch the third-generation services. These companies are Zain Iraq of Kuwait's Zain and Asiacell the belongs to Qatar and Korek belongs to Orange.

In October, informed sources said that the government wants from each company to pay $ 307 million for the Spectrum Company, which made these companies disappointed.

However, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees at the National Communications and Media Commission of Iraq, Ali al-Khuwaylidi said that mobile phone companies now agreed to pay these fees and paid $ 73 million in advance a few days ago.

Khuwaylidi said that the companies will pay the rest in four installments during the next eighteen months, when the first while signing third-generation services held on the tenth of November.

He added that there will be a trial period for two months before the commercial launch of third-generation services.

Khuwaylidi said that the Board hopes that this service provides job opportunities to a large number of citizens.

In 2007, each company of mobile phone companies paid $ 1.25 billion for a 15year license term. These licenses do not require access to a separate license for third-generation services, but the spectrum frequency only and then companies opposed the payment of additional fees, especially with the decline in profits.

Zain Iraq have fallen 14 percent profit in nine months to 30 of September, to $ 224 million compared with a decline by four percent in revenue to $ 1.24 billion, due to some temporary closures of the network and network operating costs rise because of the unrest.

Most of Zain customers are in Baghdad and southern Iraq, which reduced the company’s suffering from disorders with control of ISIS organization on most of the northern and western areas of the country this year.

Asiacell revenues in Sulaymaniyah city in Kurdistan Region have reduced 9.5 percent in the first nine months of the year to 4.8 billion riyals ($ 1.32 billion), while net profit fell 38 percent in the same period to 868 million riyals.