Middle East telecommunication consultancy Technology Partners has won the $10 million bid to build network management and subscriber services infrastructure for Iraq's national telecommunications network.
Technology Partners leads a consortium of companies that will deploy billing, network management and information systems connecting the 250 service and exchange sites across the country, allowing Iraq Telecom to start functioning as a commercial entity and supporting the reconstruction and development of the Iraqi national fixed line telecommunications network.
"Iraq currently has over one million subscribers to its landline network, a number which is expected to grow very quickly in a population of more than 24 million," explained CEO of Technology Partners, Omar Barzanji. "This contract supports a national telecommunications information platform that will immediately and effectively leapfrog the 15 years of technological development which has bypassed Iraq."
The project will equip each of Iraq's 250 telephone exchanges centers with PC-based workstations and trained CRM operators linked through to the central server farm in Baghdad which will handle CRM, billing, network services, and fault reporting and engineering resource management. Over 1,500 workstations will be installed across the country to equip operator positions.
Iraq's network is based on a heterogeneous mix of switching technologies, including digital and analogue exchanges from a number of vendors. The task of integrating the new system to such a complex mix of exchanges is being undertaken by Lucent Technologies, which has also recently been involved in a major project to rebuild damaged exchange facilities by installing containerized switching in 12 locations, bringing Iraq's switched network back up to its pre-war capacity by replacing some 260,000 lines of switching.
Technology Partners is an international telecommunication consultancy and systems integrator with offices in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Baghdad, Iraq. Founded in 1997, Technology Partners specializes in the development and management of IP based telecommunications, broadband networks and other infrastructure and IP services projects in the Middle East. — (menareport.com)
© 2004 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
