Phone lines were battered during the recent war

On offer are three regional licences, which promise to be among the most lucrative of the international contracts up for grabs in Iraq.

The statement from the Coalition Provisional Authority failed to specify whether the licences would mandate the GSM standard - as do most countries' licensing systems - or allow a free-for-all, as is the rule in the US.

GSM, used in all surrounding countries, in the US army's own nascent Baghdad mini-network and by 70% of the world's mobile subscribers, would allow travellers from most other countries to use their own phones in Iraq.

But Darrell Issa, a US congressman from California, has in the past called for the CPA to mandate the use of the CDMAOne standard developed by Qualcomm, a California company from which he has received campaign contributions.

Deadlines

The schedule for the licensing process sets 28 July as the date on which the CPA will issue a request for proposals, which are due within 14 days.

Applicants will have to bid for at least two of the licences, which will be split into northern, central and southern regions and will last for 24 months.

"The CPA has chosen a regional licensing approach in order to enable the rapid rollout of services to the main population centres," the authority said.

It acknowledged that two years was a short time compared with most telecoms licences, but said its rules needed to allow for future Iraqi authorities to make their own decisions further down the line.

"This is considerably shorter than is normal for a mobile telecommunications licence but reflects the special circumstances in Iraq," the statement said.

Tatters

The urgency in getting networks set up comes from the fact that a dozen years of sanctions and then the heavy bombing and shelling during the war earlier this year has left Iraq's communications infrastructure in ruins.

Reports have suggested half the landlines in Iraq are still down because of war damage and subsequent looting at the telephone main exchanges.

Setting up mobile networks is much quicker than installing fixed phone lines.