ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Korek Telecom owes Iraq's Communications and Media Commission (CMC) a total of two trillion dinars (around $1.5 billion) in licensing fees and outstanding debts, an Iraqi MP said on Monday.
"The total debt on Korek Telecom amounts to two trillion dinars," Zahra al-Bajari, head of the parliament’s transport and communications committee, told state media. “The company is obligated to pay the licensing fees and accumulated debts.”
Korek subscribers across Iraq and the Kurdistan Region have been unable to make or receive calls or send and receive messages from both domestic and international carriers for over a year. The disruption stemmed from a November 2023 decision by the CMC to block Korek’s communications over its unpaid financial obligations.
A month earlier, the CMC had warned Korek that its operating license had expired and would not be renewed because it had failed to pay “large sums” of owed money.
Bajari said that Korek had requested to pay its debts in installments, but that option “requires guarantees from the company for the accumulated debts.”
“The disconnection between telecommunications companies and Korek is ongoing,” she confirmed.
In February, the CMC suspended Korek’s internet services “due to non-compliance with paying outstanding debts and continued violations” and to “encourage” the company to settle its debts.
Mazen Sirwan Barzani, director of communications at Korek Telecom, told Rudaw afterwards that Korek and CMC have been in a dispute since 2007 when the commission gave three million subscribers that Korek was supposed to inherit from a competitor.
"The total debt on Korek Telecom amounts to two trillion dinars," Zahra al-Bajari, head of the parliament’s transport and communications committee, told state media. “The company is obligated to pay the licensing fees and accumulated debts.”
Korek subscribers across Iraq and the Kurdistan Region have been unable to make or receive calls or send and receive messages from both domestic and international carriers for over a year. The disruption stemmed from a November 2023 decision by the CMC to block Korek’s communications over its unpaid financial obligations.
A month earlier, the CMC had warned Korek that its operating license had expired and would not be renewed because it had failed to pay “large sums” of owed money.
Bajari said that Korek had requested to pay its debts in installments, but that option “requires guarantees from the company for the accumulated debts.”
“The disconnection between telecommunications companies and Korek is ongoing,” she confirmed.
In February, the CMC suspended Korek’s internet services “due to non-compliance with paying outstanding debts and continued violations” and to “encourage” the company to settle its debts.
Mazen Sirwan Barzani, director of communications at Korek Telecom, told Rudaw afterwards that Korek and CMC have been in a dispute since 2007 when the commission gave three million subscribers that Korek was supposed to inherit from a competitor.
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