Iraq mobile firm urges govt to switch to 3G

BAGHDAD, May 11 (AFP): As Iraq readies consultations over how to move its mobile telecoms industry to 3G technology, its biggest operator has called for the government to move quicker to the latest wireless standards. While the communications minister has said no decision has been made on how to move the country from older 2G mobile phone technology, the chief of the Iraqi arm of Kuwaiti firm Zain called for all of the country's operators to be awarded 3G, or third generation, licenses immediately. "It's in their interests, it's in the country's interests, in the people's interests, in the government's interests, in the operators' interests, to give us 3G immediately, without any hesitation," Emad Makiya, chief executive of Zain Iraq said in an interview with AFP. "Let the operators go and innovate, and offer a good service." Older 2G technology allows mobile phones to make and receive calls and text messages and browse basic websites, while 3G dramatically increases the capacity, or bandwidth, of a network, allowing users to browse more complicated websites at a faster speed. While mobile phones in much of the Western world and several countries in Asia and the Middle East largely operate on 3G technology, some nations have moved on to even faster 4G wireless standards that allow customers to download still larger files and view videos on demand, all at varying fees.