GSM association dismisses Issa’s request for CDMA in Iraq

In the wake of Californian congressman Darrell Issa’s letter to the US defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Friday lobbying for a new CDMA cellular network to be built in Iraq, Rob Conway of the GSM association has published a damning response, reinforcing that the main priority in Iraq is the war, and a new wireless network is not currently being considered. In his letter, Issa claimed that GSM technology is fast becoming outdated, and is primarily a European standard. He went on to argue that if a GSM network was deployed in Iraq, most of the equipment used to build the system will be manufactured in France, Germany and other parts of western or northern Europe and the CDMA system was a more sensible option. Conway, however, was quick to dismiss these claims, passing them off as Issa’s personal opinion, rather than factual statements. He said that there are currently over 20 countries in the Middle-East with GSM networks, a market of around 60 million customers, and CDMA would be completely at odds with the rest of the region.

While the ill-timed conflict between Issa and the GSM association continues, Iraq’s telecoms network is being destroyed by US air raids, making it virtually impossible for the local people to make a phone call. The country’s network has only recently been rebuilt after the last Gulf War, having taken years and hundreds of millions of dollars to complete. Iraqi engineers say that although the extent of the damage to the network is unclear at the moment, it is certainly extensive.