[Satellite News 07-16-09] IraqSat is working to bring a large satellite virtual private network (VPN) to the Iraqi Ministries of Defense and Interior in an effort to rebuild the country’s communications infrastructure and provide services to schools and universities, Marwan Khalid, IraqSat’s operations manager, told Satellite News.
    “We are trying to allow people to work and talk to people in hostile areas with no risk to their lives,” said Khalid.
     Since its beginnings in 2003, IradSat has worked with the U.S. Army, U.S Air Force, U.S. Embassy, KBR, Fluor, Reuters, NATO, Iraqi universities and the country’s ministries to connect the country with Internet service. With little terrestrial infrastructure, satellite technology is playing a huge role in terms of the country’s communications infrastructure. “Before 2003, no one in Iraq had Internet access and communications were difficult — families might wait for weeks or months to hear from members who had left. With the wide availability of satellite, Iraq has been able to make big steps towards reconstruction and getting out of the darkness it suffered prior to 2003,” said Khalid.
    The connectivity situation Iraq is much different now. According to Khalid, most of Baghdad’s citizens have an Internet connection at home — some for work and some for leisure. The source of all these connections is satellite, and people are well aware of it. “The Iraqi people and Iraqi government have realized the importance of satellite communication and for that reason, it has become one of the most sought after services required in Iraq with tenders from all ministries and government agencies asking for provision of service and the need for them to have their own private networks via satellite,” he said.
    The project is not only driven by civic duty but as a profitable commercial operation, and IraqSat is seeing growth concentrated on dedicated satellites links, private networks, and virtual network operators to minimize security risks. “We are packaging conference systems that allow managers, ministers and others to meet without going leaving their offices. The security situation is still not good enough for people go around and make site visits,” Khalid said.
    Travis Mooney, COO of Talia, agreed that there has been a change in the way Iraq communicates, and that the shift has been moving at a remarkably fast pace. “I think it is important to think about the state that Iraq was in even before the conflict. You could not even call from major city to major city. So if you wanted to call from Baghdad to Mosul, you could not do it and reserve a hotel room for example. So bringing in any sort of overall communications, it really transformed society. We have worked with some wireless ISPs and a lot of net cafes that are bringing communications to the reach of everyone. That is pretty outstanding actually,” he said.
    Talia’s efforts in helping rebuilding Iraq’s infrastructure include its own deployed networks based. “We have already seen a market shift towards more bespoke solutions, more dedicated connectivity, as opposed to shared platforms. I think what we are seeing now are organizations that can afford it go towards something with service guarantees. A lot of governmental organizations are looking for private RF networks. There are a couple of deals I know that are going on in Baghdad for fully private fully autonomous networks,” said Mooney.
    Market opportunities for satellite, according to Khalid, have been created by non-existent ground infrastructure and the almost non-existent impact that WiMax is having on Iraq’s rebuilding effort. “There are few WiMax service providers in Iraq, but they have not been able to fulfill customer demands nor they have managed to provide the speed and services required by companies and institutions. For that reason, most clients have stayed with satellite service providers. In the end, WiMax service providers use satellite communication for their backbone connection to the outside world, which means with the use of WiMax satellite is still required,” he said.
    While insurgency is still a daily reality of life in Iraq, Khalid believes the situation is bound to improve and hopes to encourage more international satellite companies to invest in the country. “There are hundreds of new projects opening in Iraq in very remote locations. The entire Iraqi border needs to be guarded and connected to a network. The schools, hospitals and police stations need to be connected to each other and to a central government. These types of networks require the combination of local expertise with international resources. The companies who invest in Iraq will all need reliable communications so there will continue to be good opportunity for satellite services,” he said.