McKenzie Wark on Wed, 19 Feb 2003 23:38:01 +0100 (CET) |
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[Nettime-bold] Telocs eyeing post war Iraq |
New York Times / February 17, 2003 Looking Beyond a War in Iraq By SIMON ROMERO The telecommunications equipment industry is quietly pinning its hopes on a quick Iraqi war that would be followed by an American-led effort to rebuild the country after the ouster of Saddam Hussein. Iraq, whose communications networks were heavily damaged in the 1991 gulf war, is sorely in need of an entirely new and modern telecommunications system for its civilian population. And if a pro-American government were to emerge in Iraq, telecommunications equipment analysts say American companies like Lucent Technologies and Motorola could gain an edge over competitors from France and China that have won relatively modest contracts in recent years to help Iraq improve its communications network. An important precedent, these analysts say, came after the gulf war when Saudi Arabia awarded Lucent at least $4.5 billion of contracts to overhaul its telephone system. That deal, among the largest government awards to any equipment manufacturer in the last decade, was widely associated with an effort by allies in the region to favor American companies after the war. "A new government in Baghdad more favorably disposed to the United States could tilt the geopolitical favor of telecoms' future contracts in the direction of American companies," said Joseph Braude, a senior analyst at Pyramid Research, a company in Cambridge, Mass., that conducts international telecommunications research. Mr. Braude, who is also the author of "The New Iraq," a coming book about rebuilding that country's infrastructure, estimated that Iraq needed to invest at least $1 billion over the next several years to improve its basic fixed-line telephone system. Additional investments will be needed to introduce wireless communications and overhaul the nation's international communications links, Mr. Braude said. [匽 Executives at American companies that are analyzing contract opportunities in Iraq are hesitant to discuss publicly their views of the Iraqi market. Mary Lou Ambrus, a spokeswoman for Lucent, which is based in Murray Hill, N.J., declined to comment. Jennifer Weyrauch, a Motorola spokeswoman, said, "If an opportunity exists under the right circumstances we would take a close look at it." The company, a leader in wireless communications, operates in 10 countries of the Middle East and North Africa. "To this end," Ms. Weyrauch continued, "we urge the U.S. Congress and administration to prepare to promptly remove existing sanctions that would impede U.S. businesses from participating in the reconstruction and recovery effort." It is premature and simplistic to discuss specific contract possibilities because of the many factors that would come into play after a war, the nation's outstanding foreign debt obligations and legal disputes that could emerge among companies with existing Iraqi contracts and firms seeking new business there. "There are so many uncertainties involved in commercial ambitions in Iraq," said Barbara Oegg, a trade expert at the Institute for International Economics, a research group in Washington. Still, the complexity related to Iraq has not stopped American communications companies from speculating about the future there. Joseph R. Wright, the chief executive of PanAmSat, the commercial international satellite operator based in Wilton, Conn., said in an interview that his company was evaluating the need for communications systems in Iraq that include the use of satellite links. "Nation rebuilding in Iraq or Afghanistan or wherever would have an advantage by adopting hybrid technology solutions," Mr. Wright said. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/17/technology/17NECO.html?pagewanted=print&position=top ___________________________________________________ http://subsol.c3.hu/subsol_2/contributors0/warktext.html ... we no longer have roots, we have aerials ... ___________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ MSN 8 helps eliminate e-mail viruses. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus _______________________________________________ Nettime-bold mailing list Nettime-bold@nettime.org http://amsterdam.nettime.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nettime-bold