We commenced Wimax operations in Baghdad in 2004, serving foreign contractors and government entities. In early 2008 Babtel received US and Iraqi permission to expand its services to Joint Base Balad, the largest US military base in the region; this service will commence operations in July 2008. Several other large bases are in discussion with Babtel for similar services. Finally, Babtel will erec
t a microwave communications system from its areas of operations that will provide Iraq with its first country- wide network. Predominantly, we offer international voice connectivity through two main types of services: Enterprise Telephony Services to Iraqi, Middle Eastern and multinational companies, governmental entities, and other service providers; and Coinless Phone Booth Services which we sell to laborers living on contractor camps at nine of the largest US military bases in Iraq (“Third Country Nationals” or “TCNs”). Our initial efforts were focused on filling some of the most difficult niches in the soaring market for international communications services from contractors working in Iraq, with the future goals of establishing our own Metropolitan Area Networks (“MANs”), and then connecting them with ‘core’ fiber and microwave architecture within the crippled Iraqi infrastructure, finally making Babtel a dominant participant in the Iraqi mobile WiFi telecommunications industry.
