Kurdish company IQ Networks is likely to launch a US$100mn broadband cable from Turkey to Iraq?s Gulf Coast by the end of the year
The company, based out of northern Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), hopes to link the region to Europe and Asia through the cable.
IQ Networks chief executive Martin Frank said, ?This will be the first privately-built and privately-run network of this kind outside of Kurdistan.?
However, based on a deal with Baghdad, IQ Networks will be granted a 15-year renewable licence to operate the network but will hand ownership of the cable outside of KRI to state-owned Iraq Telecommunications and Post Company (ITPC) and will pay 26 per cent of all revenue to the government, stated Reuters.
The project has been delayed extensively due to various reasons, the most recent one being disruption of lines and services supposedly by the Islamic State (IS). IQ Networks spent US$30mn to build an additional 1,000 kilometres of fibre, re-routing the network further east. Frank confirmed that the network will be ready for launch by the end of 2015.
