Korek Telecom is Iraq’s third largest mobile network operator and the leading MNO in Kurdistan. The operator played a critical role with the armed forces during the liberation of Mosul and is now working hard to rebuild networks, restore services and improve coverage across the country. TowerXchange spoke to Korek Telecom’s Zardasht Khalid who has been on the front line of Korek Telecom’s restoration efforts in the country.
TowerXchange: Please can you introduce Korek Telecom and where they sit in the Iraqi telecoms sector?
Zardasht Khalid, Site Management Director, Korek Telecom:
Korek Telecom is Iraq’s fastest growing mobile network operator serving over 7 million customers across the entire country. In the Kurdistan region we are the dominant operator and we are also the leading MNO in Iraq’s second largest city, Mosul.We have both a 2G and a 3G license and compete with Zain and Asiacell on a national level. In Kurdistan there are also a host of 4G only players including Fastlink and Tishknet.
TowerXchange: How has Korek Telecom’s network been impacted by the conflict in Iraq?
Zardasht Khalid, Site Management Director, Korek Telecom:
All of the operators in the country have sustained significant damage to their networks. In Korek Telecom’s case we had around 100 towers which were completely destroyed and need to be fully replaced. In addition to this, a further 800 towers sustained some kind of damage and need to be repaired. In terms of the sort of damage, the power equipment on site has been the most impacted, with a lot of generators needing repair or replacing, cabling to the sites has also been cut or stolen and so also must be repaired.
Whilst we have found a total of around 900 towers impacted in our network, there are areas of the country which we are yet to survey, areas where security is still too big a concern, such as the main highway leading towards Syria and Jordan.We expect that there will be further significant damage in these regions.
As of today, Korek Telecom have a total of 3,668 towers and so you can see that almost one quarter of our towers have been affected by the conflict. Zain and Asiacell have larger tower portfolios than Korek and so they are likely to have a higher number of damaged towers.
TowerXchange: Can you explain some of the work that Korek Telecom has been doing to restore connectivity across Iraq
Zardasht Khalid, Site Management Director, Korek Telecom:
One of the most high profile projects I have been involved in was bringing connectivity back to the city of Mosul. In 2014, ISIS took control of Mosul, one of Iraq’s largest cities with a population of 3.3mn. In the November of the same year, ISIS switched off our mobile networks, exploding the core and cutting off all cables to our sites, putting our entire team in jail and cutting off all connectivity to the city.
With no mobile networks for those caught in the conflict, the following February we started to install special sites on top of the surrounding mountains to try and give some coverage. This was met with a backlash from ISIS who quizzed our team in jail on why there was mobile coverage and took the steps to kill anyone who was using a mobile phone.
Korek Telecom persisted however and from May 2015 to July 2016 we continued to increase the number of sites on top of the mountains as traffic
inside the city continued to increase. On 16 July 2016 we held our first meeting with the army to put in place plans for liberation of the city and restoration of our network. It was my role to lead the project and by 31 August we had all the plans in place; everything from making sure we had all the necessary materials ready to having security arranged.
The 16th October 2016 was the first day of Mosul’s liberation, and over the course of the next few months we worked in parallel with the army to install mobile sites and repair the backbone, often working with fighting and snipers a matter of only a few hundred metres away. Inside the city we installed cells on wheels for the United Nations compound, and international journalists used our network to report back on developments in the city, commenting on the quality of network that enabled them to report directly from a warzone. The 10th July 2017 was the final day of liberation and by that time we had restored 405 sites, repairing 2G and 3G services. There is still some work to do but the project has been a huge success, made even more special by the fact that all engaged in the network rebuild were local Iraqis.
Prior to ISIS’s siege of Mosul, Asiacell had been the dominant operator in the city but since our work during the liberation, Korek Telecom has become the lead operator.
We have been working to restore coverage over the rest of the country and will continue repairing our old network throughout 2018 before embarking on much needed expansion projects.
"We currently have 3,668 towers and forecast that we need to build our network up to about 6,000. In addition to ground based towers and rooftop sites we are also looking at in building solutions which are essential in the large number of high rise buildings in Iraq."
TowerXchange: Can you tell us about some of the scale of expansion that you are expecting?
Zardasht Khalid, Site Management Director, Korek Telecom:
Telecom: We currently have 3,668 towers and forecast that we need to build our network up to about 6,000. In addition to ground based towers and rooftop sites we are also looking at in building solutions which are essential in the large number of high rise buildings in Iraq.
In Kurdistan there is increasing sensitivity around the proliferation of towers that are considered an eyesore. Looking out of my window in the capital of the region, Erbil, and I can see ten towers all in close proximity. Because of this we are also starting to look for camouflaged solutions and alternative tower designs from light poles to palm trees for some areas.
Iraq is about to take a major economic leap as international investment is funneled into the country to rebuild basic infrastructure and repair the economy. Last month, at a conference of investors and donors, $30bn in investment was pledged by the international community, with the Iraqi government hoping to push this figure beyond $80bn.
A whole host of major infrastructure projects will be the recipients of these funds and telecommunications will be an essential component. Korek Telecom will be working closely with each of the different projects to build out networks and repair and improve coverage. More details will emerge in March when the final projects are awarded and from then we can work with the different stakeholders to plan investment in telecommunications.
TowerXchange: What can you tell us about the complexities of operating cell sites in Iraq and how is this currently managed?
Zardasht Khalid, Site Management Director, Korek Telecom:
There is a very high cost to operating towers in Iraq, with the majority of opex attributed to security and logistics. In Kurdistan it is a lot more stable but in central and southern Iraq security isa major concern.
The second biggest factor contributing to the high opex is the lack of commercial power. Once again, in Kurdistan, the situation is a lot better with up to 20 hours of grid availability per day but throughout the rest of the country, grid availability can drop a lot lower and a large number of sites have no grid connection. The majority of our sites have two diesel generators in place, with some having just the one. To power our sites, Korek Telecom use Perkins engines and Stamford alternators; we prefer to work with the same suppliers in order to have better spare parts management and cost is also a major concern for us. We are yet to install any hybrid systems, and there are no large scale pilots in the country to examine, but our power team is studying different technologies with a view to potentially deploying them next year.
In terms of how the O&M is managed, we have managed service contracts in place across central and southern Iraq, working with Ericsson in central regions and Nokia in the south. In Kurdistan, in the North we manage all the maintenance in house.
TowerXchange: Do you see a role for infrastructure sharing and independent towercos in Iraq’s network?
Zardasht Khalid, Site Management Director, Korek Telecom:
To date, infrastructure sharing in Iraq has been extremely limited but it is something that requires further study. There have been some very early discussions at the Iraqi telecoms regulator, the Communications and Media Commission (CMC), but to date nothing concrete has emerged. The Minister of Environment has also expressed a desire to promote infrastructure sharing, reducing the number of towers which are springing up across the country.
At the moment, all the towers which we use belong to Korek Telecom and there are no independent towercos in the market. The entrance of independent towercos in Iraq would be a positive development, promoting infrastructure sharing and better managing the high opex costs associated with the market
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Zardasht Khalid will join the speaking faculty at this year’s TowerXchange Meetup MENA, hosting discussions around opportunities and challenges in the Iraqi market. For more information please visit https://meetup.towerxchange.com/event/fcf4640c-985d-4b17-8d61-121791793b57
