ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Mobile phone users faced serious disruption on Sunday when the Iraqi Communications and Media Commission (CMC) ordered operators to cut calls between their customers and Korek users in a dispute over number portability.
Iraq’s communications regulator, which oversees TV broadcasters, internet service providers, and telephone companies, told mobile network providers last week that Erbil-based Korek had failed to meet its “contractual obligations” to allow customers to keep their phone number when they change service provider.
“As such, it was decided to cut intra-connection between your companies and Korek for five days, starting from March 24, 2019,” the CMC told operators in a letter seen by Rudaw.
Asia Cell confirmed to Rudaw it had temporarily cut calls between its customers and Korek users.
Asia Cell, Zain, and other mobile service providers have already agreed to the CMC’s policy of allowing customers to keep their phone number when changing provider.
“Number portability gives a telecom customer the possibility to retain his/her/its telephone number when he/she/it changes telecom operator,” reads an August 2015 consultation paper by the CMC.
The CMC says it aims to give customers more freedom to choose their operator without losing their number. The move is expected to increase competition between providers and thereby improve overall quality.
Korek issued a statement on its Facebook page on Sunday branding the policy “unfair and unjust” both to customers and companies.
“The Communication and Media Commission has not given the Korek Company the necessary time to study and reply to the decision to sign, whereby the decision to cut intra-connection was made to pressure the Korek Company to sign contracts,” Korek said.
“That is why we see the decision of the Communication and Media Commission as unjust and unfair and not in the interest of Iraqis. Rather, the commission has decided to punish citizens and deprive them from the service, which damages their interests,” it added.
Korek apologized to customers and said it is working to resolve the issue as soon as possible.
This is not the first time the CMC has taken action against Kurdish phone operators.
In late January and early February 2018, the CMC ordered Korek, Zain, and Asia Cell to cut intra-connection with Kurdish landline companies such as Fanoos Telecom and Newroz Telecom because they had not been licensed by the federal CMC.
According to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Ministry of Transportation and Communication, the CMC has ordered major firms like Huawei not to deal with internet providers in the Kurdistan Region, hampering the growth of internet infrastructure in the Region.
The push for more centralized control over Kurdish telecommunications has become more aggressive since October 16, 2017, when the federal government sought to rein in Kurdish economic autonomy in the wake of the Region’s independence referendum.