Korek Telecom () is an
Iraqi telecommunications company
A telecommunications company is a kind of electronic communications service provider, more precisely a telecommunications service provider (TSP), that provides telecommunications services such as telephony and data communications access. Many t ...
in
Erbil
Erbil (, ; , ), also called Hawler (, ), is the capital and most populated city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The city is the capital of the Erbil Governorate.
Human settlement at Erbil may be dated back to the 5th millennium BC. At the h ...
,
Kurdistan Region
Kurdistan Region (KRI) is a semi-autonomous Federal regions of Iraq, federal region of the Iraq, Republic of Iraq. It comprises four Kurds, Kurdish-majority governorates of Arabs, Arab-majority Iraq: Erbil Governorate, Sulaymaniyah Governorate ...
.
In March 2011, France Télécom (now
Orange S.A.
Orange S.A. (; formerly , stylised as france telecom) is a French multinational telecommunications corporation founded in 1988 and headquartered in Issy-les-Moulineaux, near Paris.
''Orange'' has been the corporation's main brand for mobile, ...
) acquired a 20% indirect stake in Korek Telecom.
On Jan 1, 2015, Korek launched 3G in Iraq after winning one of the three
3G licenses awarded by
Government of Iraq
The government of Iraq is defined under the current Constitution of Iraq, Constitution, approved in 2005, as a Democracy in Iraq, democratic, Parliamentary system, parliamentary republic with Islam as the official state religion. The government i ...
On Dec 16, 2015, Korek became the first operator in Iraq to launch
Free Basics in Iraq in partnership with
Internet.org and
Facebook
Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
.
In March 2023, the company was implicated in a major corruption scandal and found guilty of bribing regulators, self-dealing, diversions of corporate assets, sham loans, and other illegal schemes.
Fraud and corruption
In March 2023, Paris-based
International Court of Arbitration
ICC International Court of Arbitration is an institution for the resolution of international commercial disputes. It operates under the auspices of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and consists of more than 100 arbitrators from rough ...
found Korek and its founder and controlling shareholder
Sirwan Barzani guilty of ‘fraud and corruption’ and awarded $1.65 billion in damages to Iraq Telecom Limited, a joint venture of Kuwaiti company Agility and French Orange Group, and International Holdings.
[ ]
See also
*
Asiacell
*
*
Telephone numbers in Iraq
References
External links
*
{{Orange S.A.
Mobile phone companies of Iraq
Orange S.A.
Erbil Governorate
Telecommunications companies established in 2000
2000 establishments in Iraqi Kurdistan
Iraqi brands
Iraqi companies established in 2000