This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 002393 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECPS ECON IZ
SUBJECT: INITIAL CALL ON THE NEW IRAQI MINISTER OF 
COMMUNICATIONS 
 
THIS CABLE IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED, NOT FOR INTERNET 
DISTRIBUTION. 
 
REF: A) STATE 30930 
     B) BAGHDAD 2191 
     C) Department/Baghdad O/I (06/02/2005) 
 
1.(SBU) SUMMMARY: Iraqi Minister of Communications, Dr. 
Jowan Masum, told us May 30she is anxious to get a date 
from the CEO of the National Communications and Media 
Commission (NCMC) for a joint press conference between the 
Ministry of Communications and the NCMC.  She requested 
assistance in resolving the closing of an internal access 
road to the MOC building.  She also requested assistance 
with the Project Contracting Office to expedite the 
contract award for the construction of a new post office. 
Masum announced that she had accepted the International 
Telecommunication Union's invitation for Iraq to host a 
2009 technology conference and of her intent to resolve 
Iraq's ITU membership dues arrearages. She noted that all 
previous MOC unlicensed Wireless Local Loop (WLL) projects 
are halted until the licensing issues with the NCMC are 
resolved. Masum stated that MCI offered to "gift" their 
system to the MOC.  Masum noted the difficulty of 
transitioning current employees in the state owned landline 
system to the private sector because of job security 
concerns.  Masum suggested that the new mobile licensees 
would be limited to entities comprised of 10 percent or 
less government ownership. Masum stated her intent to sign 
all the infrastructure initiatives left by the previous 
Minister, but that funding them was difficult as the 
previous Minister returned all the MOC funds to the 
Ministry of Finance.  Masum also stated her intent to 
restructure the state owned telephone company into 
wholesale and retail entities.  END SUMMARY 
 
2.(U) IRMO Deputy Director and Director of Operations MG 
Heine, IRMO Senior Consultant for Communications, and 
ECONOFF met with the new Iraqi Minister of Communications, 
Dr. Jowan Masum, on May 30, 2005. 
 
-------------------------------- 
JOINT PRESS CONFERENCE WITH NCMC 
-------------------------------- 
 
3.(SBU) Masum said she was anxious to get a date from 
Siyamend Othman, CEO of the Iraqi National Communications 
and Media Commission (NCMC), for a joint press conference 
between MOC and NCMC.  She informed us that the press 
conference would serve as the formal and public transfer of 
all spectrum and licensing responsibilities and equipment, 
from the MOC to the NCMC.  In addition, she stated that she 
received several complaints on Iraqna service and that the 
press conference would definitively establish that the NCMC 
has sole authority over mobile carriers.  Masum showed us a 
poster she printed up for the press conference.  We offered 
our assistance in helping with the press conference and 
d 
extended the offer from the US Embassy Public Affairs 
Section to conduct media training to prepare for the press 
conference. 
 
------------------------ 
NEW POST OFFICE BUILDING 
------------------------ 
 
4.(SBU) Masum stated that her immediate priority is to 
award a contract for the construction of a new post office, 
the first in Iraq for many years that will be built from 
the ground up.  It is modeled after a US post office. 
Masum, who previously worked at PCO as an Operations 
Manager, said she had heard that PCO is eliminating the 
'quick procurement' option that allowed projects costing 
under $1 Million to bypass the usual RFP process.  She is 
concerned that the RFP process will take months and that in 
the interim she will lose the land. She stated that the 
contractor for the project has been identified and is ready 
to start.  She requested our assistance in expediting the 
resolution. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
ITU 2009 CONFERENCE TO BE HELD IN IRAQ 
-------------------------------------- 
 
5.(SBU) Masum informed us that the International 
Telecommunication Union (ITU) asked Iraq to hold the 2009 
ITU technology conference.  Masum stated that she accepted 
the offer and would like to hold the conference at the 
Mamoon switch site, the rebuilding of which is currently 
out for bid and scheduled to be completed in 2 years.  She 
explained that Mamoon is a Baghdad landmark that has been 
used by Iraqis for many years as a recreation site and that 
its needle tower can be seen for miles around.  She also 
noted that a large park once surrounded the Mamoon building 
and stated her intent to bring back the park and connect it 
by footpath to another park nearby.  She plans to ensure 
that the rebuilding plans facilitate the hosting of the ITU 
conference. 
 
-------------- 
ITU ARREARAGES 
-------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Masum said she is ready to make the initial 
payment of a proposed 5-year payment plan to the ITU in 
n 
order to begin the process of curing an 18-year lapse by 
Iraq in paying its dues (REF A).  The first payment will 
reinstate Iraq's membership in the ITU and begin the 
process in seeking forbearance of approximately $600,000 in 
accrued interest (about one-third of GOI's indebtedness of 
$1,962,982.60 Swiss francs as of October 29,2004). 
She stated that she has the funds to make the first payment 
and would do so upon receipt of the Repayment Agreement 
from ECONOFF. We offered our assistance in providing her 
with the Repayment Agreement and facilitating contact with 
the ITU.  NOTE: Subsequent to this meeting, we provided 
Masum with the information from REF C, and she has begun 
follow-up with the ITU.  END NOTE. 
 
----------------- 
MILITARY SPECTRUM 
----------------- 
 
7.(SBU) Masum stated that she met with the Minister Of 
Defense and informed them that the military 
telecommunications systems need to be on the military 
spectrum band.  She noted that LTG Petreaus was present at 
the meeting. 
 
 
--------------------------- 
UNLICENSED MOC WLL PROJECTS 
--------------------------- 
 
8.(SBU) Masum said she has halted work on all current 
Wireless Local Loop projects initiated by MOC, under the 
previous Minister, until the licensing issue with the NCMC 
is resolved.  She noted that there were several projects at 
various stages of completion and it is her intent to 
license them before any work is resumed. 
 
------------------------ 
HIRING OF ITPC EMPLOYEES 
------------------------ 
 
9.(SBU) Masum noted the difficulty in getting current ITPC 
employees to accept jobs in the private sector because of 
their concerns over job security and the loss of pensions 
and benefits.  She explained that employees want a letter 
from the MOC before joining the private sector, 
guaranteeing them a MOC position and a reinstitution of the 
pension in the event private industry positions are 
unsuccessful.  She also noted that she was going to end the 
current practice of guaranteeing jobs to graduates of the 
e 
College of Technology.  She stated that if positions were 
open, for which graduates were qualified, they would be 
welcome at MOC, but otherwise they were to look to the 
private sector for employment. 
 
------------------------ 
MCI OPERATED USG NETWORK 
------------------------- 
 
10.(SBU) Masum said that MCI informed her that they would 
be "gifting" the MCI USG network to the ITPC, the 
government owned landline telephone company, which operates 
under MOC authority and direction.  She further stated that 
MCI invited her to Jordan at the end of June to begin 
discussing the "concept of granting the system" to ITPC. 
 
----------------------------- 
INTERCONNECTION WITH THE ITPC 
----------------------------- 
 
11.(SBU) Masum noted several times in the meeting that 
interconnection and roaming among the mobile carriers and 
the ITPC are essential for good service in Iraq.  She 
acknowledged that the NCMC had jurisdiction over the issue 
and that the ITPC would be working closely with the NCMC. 
 
 
------------------------ 
MOBILE LICENSING TENDERS 
------------------------ 
 
12.(SBU) Masum raised the issue of whether the new mobile 
license tenders would prohibit any entities that are 
comprised of more than 10 percent government ownership, 
from bidding in the upcoming mobile licensing tenders.  She 
stated that the current mobile licensees were restricted in 
that manner and that it would be wise to continue the 
practice.  She noted that there was still some confusion 
among carriers as to who had jurisdiction over the tender 
process and she has been referring potential candidates to 
the NCMC and the NCMC website. 
 
-------------------------- 
INFRASTRUCTURE INITIATIVES 
-------------------------- 
 
13.(SBU) Masum said she plans to sign Tenders 13, 14, 21, 
48 and 51, and that Tender 52 was final, with the award 
going to Marconi. She noted that former Minister al-Hakim 
returned all the money from the MOC budget to the Ministry 
of Finance (MOF), forcing her to go to the MOF repeatedly 
y 
on a project-by-project basis to get funding.  NOTE: This 
is required by Iraq's budget law.  END NOTE. She spoke at 
some length on the international connectivity project, 
which requires investing in a submarine fiber optic network 
and of her involvement in determining the cable landing 
sites.  She will be leaving for the UAE in June to begin 
negotiations on interconnection and tariffs. 
 
14.(SBU) She questioned NCMC's CEO demand that there be a 
revenue sharing mechanism with the NCMC on the submarine 
fiber optic network.  She stated her belief that it was 
inappropriate for an independent agency to enter into 
revenue sharing agreements, that all the work in the past 
14 months on the project had been done by MOC, that the 
market should dictate prices, and that revenue sharing by 
governments would distort that pricing. She requested our 
assistance in discussing this issue with Othman and, in 
particular, the role of an independent regulator. 
 
----------------- 
UNIVERSAL SERVICE 
----------------- 
 
 
15.(SBU) Masum agreed with ECONOFF that a universal 
service policy and program needed to be in place to 
increase penetration in rural and high cost areas. 
 
------------------ 
ITPC RESTRUCTURING 
------------------ 
 
16.(SBU) Masum said she plans to restructure the ITPC into 
wholesale and retail entities.  She also stated that the 
State Company for Internet Service (SCIS), created by the 
former MOC Minister, would be dissolved and folded into the 
wholesale entity as it housed and separated the most 
experienced data personnel from the rest of the company. 
We explained that the formation of SCIS was designed to 
work with IRMO Office of Communications on the IRFF funded 
Wireless Broadband project (WBB).  She explained that the 
current ITPC and SCIS data experts could take on the WBB 
project, once those entities were combined.  She stated she 
would seek the required approval from the Ministry of 
Planning for the ITPC restructuring. She asked for 
assistance in determining the role and scope of the 
e 
"Italian Project," which is designed to provide similar 
services to the WBB, and which is being directed by the 
Ministry of Science and Technology. 
SATTERFIELD