There are now only two international submarine cables landing in Iraq, i.e., FALCON and GBI cable systems.
The GBI cable system is the first subsea cable connecting Iraq, landing at the Al Faw Cable Landing Station in early 2012. The GBI cable system is privately owned and operated by Gulf Bridge International, which contracts with Iraq Telecommunications & Post Company (ITPC) as the landing party in Iraq. The GBI cable network reaches Europe through Al Faw and terrestrial cables across Iraq and Turkey.
The FALCON cable system landed at the Al Faw Cable Landing Station in 2012, following the GBI cable system. The FALCON cable system is a private cable owned by Global Cloud Xchange (formerly FLAG Telecom), which contracts with Iraqi Telecommunications & Post Company (ITPC) as the landing party in Iraq.
As of 2020, Asiacell, Korek Telecom, and Zain Iraq are the three mobile operators in Iraq. Asiacell is a subsidiary of Ooredoo of Qatar, Korek Telecom is affiliated to Orange (France Telecom) and Zain Iraq is a subsidiary of Kuwait's Zain.
Iraq has a strategic location in providing regional and global connectivity for Eastern Europe, Central Asia, South Asia, and the Middle East. It is crucial for the digital economy in Iraq to deploy sharing of optical fiber connectivity nationalwide and internationally.