Fourth telecoms licence promised by year end, 5G in early 2027

BAGHDAD — Iraq will award its fourth mobile licence by the end of this year and launch 5G in early 2027, the communications minister said, setting fresh dates for a project first agreed with Vodafone nearly two years ago.

The ministry is coordinating with the relevant parties on the licence while preparing for 5G, Mustafa Sanad told the Iraqi News Agency. The fourth operator is to run under the Vodafone Iraq brand, under an agreement signed in December 2024 in which Vodafone provides technology, expertise and branding without taking an ownership stake. Then-minister Hayam al-Yasiri said in August last year that a six-month preparatory phase was complete and the operator would compete with the existing private companies on quality and price.

The new entrant would arrive as one of the incumbents is being shut down. The Communications and Media Commission has closed Korek Telecom offices across eight governorates since Aug. 20, saying its licence expired in 2022 and that it owes about 1.4 trillion dinars under a cancelled settlement.

On internet, Sanad said four companies from four countries had signed agreements with the ministry, “the first time in Iraq’s history,” without naming them, as Baghdad works to make the country a transit route for international data. Iraq signed a contract with Qatar’s Ooredoo on Sept. 10 to carry traffic toward Europe on an underground route from al-Faw to northern crossings including Rabia, which Sanad said would take three to four months.

Competition from Starlink, which launched in Iraq on July 29, has pushed the ministry to accelerate its fibre service and add sports, entertainment and film packages, he said. “Within three months, internet was delivered to one million homes.” He said in August that the ministry had introduced fibre packages of 300 to 800 megabits per second in response, while raising concerns about Starlink’s lack of a ground station in Iraq and its pricing.

Sanad said on Aug. 29 that Baghdad wanted a simultaneous launch across federal Iraq and the Region, which had already moved ahead with its own preparations.