Al-Sudani orders investigation, internet bandwidth smuggling and IQ contracts

Shafaq News/ Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' Al-Sudani, on Tuesday, directed the Federal Integrity Commission to investigate the procedures of the Ministry of Communications regarding cases of internet bandwidth smuggling.

Government spokesperson Basim Al-Awadi said in a statement that "Sudani instructed the Federal Integrity Commission to examine the transit bandwidth agreement of IQ Internet Services Company, in coordination with the Parliamentary Integrity Committee, and to clarify whether there are any new contracts with the aforementioned company."

On January 7, Iraqi Communications Minister Hayam Al-Yasiri signed an agreement with IQ and CBI companies regarding fiber optics, aimed at providing one terabit of internet bandwidth within the country, complementing marine and land transport networks.

In her press conference on that day, Al-Yasiri stated that the project, initiated by the Ministry of Communications in 2010, is now seeing accelerated results, with bandwidth rising from 10 gigabytes to 1.6 terabits.

The minister considered the agreement a strategic step to transform Iraq into a central hub for international telecommunications networks, with the potential to attract global investments.