Building communications bridges

Northern Iraq-based communications provider, Regional Telecom is set to launch the country’s inaugural 4G LTE network by mid-May this year. It is a historic milestone in the development of Iraq’s communications infrastructure, and would not have been successful without the partnership with Alcatel-Lucent

Kawa Junad, the chairman of Regional Telecom, sees a number of public sector services such as health and education benefiting from the roll out of LTE in Northern Iraq

The province of Northern Iraq (Kurdistan) consists of a population of approximately six million inhabitants, and at the start of 2012 an operator affiliated to fixed-line communications provider Newroz Telecom re-doubled its efforts to roll out the region’s and indeed the country’s first 4G LTE network.

The name of the operator is Regional Telecom, and armed with a 4G licence from the regional government’s telecom ministry of Northern Iraq, has been constructing an end-to-end network, inclusive of both fixed and wireless elements. The lack of fixed infrastructure across much of Iraq has hindered the development and uptake of wireless broadband services, while in Northern Iraq the combination of Newroz Telecom’s historical investment in fixed infrastructure and Regional Telecom’s on-going investment in its wireless network has resulted in the region powering ahead with LTE.

“Iraq as a whole and Northern Iraq in particular has a very real communications infrastructure problem. Our efforts to establish a communications network in the region have benefited the local government and we see the launch of LTE continuing to do that,” commented Kawa Junad, chairman of Regional Telecom. “We see a number of public sector services such as health and education benefiting from the roll out of LTE in Northern Iraq, as well as the private sector, including consumers and businesses,” he added.

Alcatel-Lucent has been a visible partner for Regional Telecom’s ambitions, and Junad has expressed his admiration and gratitude for the manner in which the technology provider has conducted it.

“We started working with Alcatel-Lucent on this project last year, and we believe we fit well as partners,” Junad said. “They have a very high calibre of employees working on the ground, the quality of the equipment is the best, and we have been able to benefit from their experience in the field of LTE. The knowledge transfer is real and active.”

Alcatel-Lucent is providing state-of-the-art equipment to Regional Telecom, which is likely to stand as a showcase for both organisations, given it will highlight just how powerful Alcatel-Lucent is across the whole telecom infrastructure chain from access and core all the way through to transport, backhauling and fibre optics. For Regional Telecom, it will showcase the benefits of high-speed broadband networks for the rest of Iraq.

Ashraf Yostos, country senior officer – Egypt, Iraq and Jordan for Alcatel-Lucent emphasises how much Regional Telecom wanted to cooperate with a transparent partner that would stand by the operator for the long-term.

“The right kind of partnership is being built between our two companies,” Yostos said. “We share a common vision and a drive for success. We are both passionate about what Regional Telecom is trying to achieve, so much so that we even started offering consultancy and advisory services as early in the process as possible.”

Regional Telecom’s deployment plans are ambitious, and this does not extend only to the launch date. The first phase of the LTE roll out extends to the major cities within Northern Iraq, with the second phase set to incorporate coverage in smaller towns and villages, and the third, to roads and even smaller cities.

Backbone infrastructure is already almost built out as part of the first phase of the network deployment, with fibre to the node being available almost everywhere, and microwave being used as a temporary solution.

Ashraf Yostos, country senior officer – Egypt, Iraq and Jordan for Alcatel-Lucent has emphasised how much Regional Telecom wanted to cooperate with a transparent partner that would stand by the operator for the long-term

With the help of Alcatel–Lucent, Regional Telecom is thus moving its legacy WiMAX and CDMA networks to LTE, and the forecasted return on investment period is under two years.

“Iraq has no infrastructure. No copper or fibre, so operators need to build from scratch and I applaud Regional Telecom and Newroz Telecom for having risen to the challenge to do so,” Yostos said.

For the LTE project, Alcatel-Lucent is providing its industry-leading end-to-end 4G solution, including base stations, IP mobile backhaul for 4G LTE and existing 3G CDMA traffic, Evolved Packet Core (EPC) and elements of its platforms, which will allow Regional Telecom to introduce a rich portfolio of advanced IP-based services.

As global demand for Internet services continues to rise, Alcatel-Lucent is providing operators such as Regional Telecom with a clear, efficient broadband evolution path. Alcatel-Lucent’s innovative light Radio portfolio is designed with this in mind, and provides a framework for wireless networks that offer lightning fast data speeds while reducing operating costs and power consumption.

About Allai Newroz Telecom

Regional Telecom affiliate Allai Newroz Telecom is a private company, founded in 2007 in Erbil city, in the heart of Kurdistan. The company became one of the first entities in the Kurdistan region to provide voice and data telecom services.  Allai Newroz Telecom acquired a significant stake in Ariafon Company, which was then a CDMA operator in Kurdistan, with around 400,000 subscribers.

In 2011, Allai Newroz Telecom went on to acquire a large stake in Neide Telecom, a telecom company specialising in wholesale fibre optic networks.

After six years of operation, Allai Newroz Telecom finds itself employing around 450 employees, and has completed a number of significant projects including:

– Laying over 1,500km of fibre optic cable connecting Kurdistan and Iraq to the whole world

– Developing and expanding the landline PSTN network in Erbil and Duhok cities of Kurdistan

– Developing and expanding the fixed wireless network that covers Erbil and Duhok governorates

– Building and launching a CDMA network in Erbil, Duhok and Sulaimanya cities in Kurdistan

– Launching a state of the art wireless Internet network using CDMA EV-DO technology covering Erbil, Duhok and Sulaimanya

– Building and activating high-speed broadband ADSL network in Erbil & Duhok