Page 98 - SAMENA Trends - August-September 2025

REGULATORY & POLICY UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

Iraq

Iraq’s Ministry of Communications has signed a contract with (September 1, 2025) www.meatechwatch.com
global telecom company Nokia to establish the country’s first
government-owned data centers in the capital. The project Hytera Communications, a provider of professional
involves building two modern facilities, one at the Al Intisar site communications technologies and solutions, says it has
and another at the Al Rasheed exchange in Baghdad’s Al Senak successfully deployed its SmartOne Unified Communication
district. Designed to international standards, the centers will Platform to support the Iraqi Ministry of Interior (MoI) in
store data under Iraqi management and serve both government overhauling Baghdad’s emergency services. The project, launched
institutions and private sector clients. Officials said the initiative in 2024, introduces a centralized 911 emergency call Centre
will help ensure that citizens’ and companies’ data remain secure – marking what Hytera describes as a pivotal advancement in
inside Iraq. Communications Minister Hiyam Al Yasiri described the public safety communications for Iraq’s capital city. The MoI
project as a cornerstone of Iraq’s digital transformation, stressing was previously reliant on a fragmented network of 26 separate
that advanced data centers are essential to complement fiber optic emergency numbers. It therefore sought to unify these under a
expansion and faster internet services. Nokia has already worked single, cohesive emergency response system. Hytera’s SmartOne
in Iraq, including building a data center for the Ministry of Planning solution integrates various communication technologies—ranging
to support the national census. According to Nokia, the new from Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) and TETRA radio systems to body
facilities will support digitalization, governance, and e-government camera feeds – into one platform, enabling seamless coordination
services while strengthening Iraq’s ability to process and store between police, fire, and medical services across Baghdad. DMR
information with cutting-edge global technologies. is a digital radio standard for voice and data transmission in non-
(September 17, 2025) www.iraqinews.com public radio networks. TETRA, a European standard for a trunked
radio system, was specifically designed for use by government
Iraq has taken a decisive step toward modernizing its telecom agencies, emergency services, transport services and the military.
sector with the signing of a contract to establish a new national The Hytera solution includes a fully integrated 911 call Centre
mobile phone services company. Sponsored by Prime Minister with over 300 operator seats. The platform supports emergency
Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani on August 31, 2025, the initiative will call intake, case creation, real-time situational tracking, and
introduce advanced 5G services across the country, aiming to dispatch across multiple agencies. The implementation also
improve connectivity and fuel economic growth. The new entity features advanced modules such as computer-aided dispatch
will operate as a public joint-stock company, with capital provided (CAD), visualized command and GIS mapping, duty and patrol
by three government institutions: the State Employees Pension management, incident analytics, and mobile police applications.
Fund, the Trade Bank of Iraq, and the General Telecommunications Together, says Hytera, these tools significantly improve situational
and Informatics Company under the Ministry of Communications. awareness, optimize resource allocation, and reduce emergency
Citizens will also be able to subscribe and contribute to the response times. The system’s microservice-based architecture
company’s capital, making it the first mobile operator in Iraq ensures high scalability and resilience, while its data-driven
to include public participation alongside state backing. Prime backend allows the MoI to continuously evaluate performance
Minister Al-Sudani hailed the project as a “qualitative step” for through call logs, incident trends and proactive alerts. These
the communications sector, stressing its importance in creating features enable informed decision-making and adaptive strategy
competition with existing providers. He underlined that the development in response to the city’s evolving safety needs. The
company’s mission goes beyond telecommunications, supporting platform handled approximately 100,000 calls on its first day of
economic diversification, education, and social development. By operation and has been shortlisted by the International Critical
combining government investment with citizen participation, the Communications Awards (ICCAs) 2025 as a finalist for the Best
initiative is designed to strengthen Iraq’s non-oil economy while Use of Critical Communications in Public Safety award.
delivering next-generation mobile services nationwide. The move (August 13, 2025) www.developingtelecoms.com
also underscores the government’s commitment to leveraging
digital infrastructure as a foundation for growth in key sectors.

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