ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Telecommunications company Korek has resumed full services after Iraq’s regulatory body ordered operators to cut calls between their customers and Korek users in a dispute over number portability.
Korek announced the end of the service disruption on Friday afternoon and offered free calls and texts as compensation for its customers.
“Dear user, we inform you that you can now call all other companies. We apologize for the severance, which was outside of our control, that occurred,” Korek Telecom said in a text message sent to its customers.
Last Sunday frustrated Korek customers were unable to connect with users of other mobile service providers. The disruption was because of a decision from Iraq’s Communications and Media Commission (CMC), which accused Korek of not letting customers keep their phone number when they switched providers.
The CMC argues the portability policy will help people and encourage competition. Korek claimed it was unfair and wanted time to study the policy.
Korek is giving customers 100 free minutes and 100 free text messages for calls and texts to users of other service providers for a period of five days.
This is not the first time the CMC has taken action against Kurdish phone operators it says are not licensed or abiding by CMC regulations.
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.