Internet Development in Kurdistan Region: From Copper to Fiber Optics

Kawa A. Junad, CEO of Newroz Telecom, the leading and largest Internet provider in Iraq’s Kurdistan Newroz Telecom, talks about the Internet development in Kurdistan.

The Internet penetration rate in Iraqi Kurdistan, and in Iraq as a whole, was the lowest in the region prior to the fall of the Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003.

Junad argues that due to liberalization of the telecom sector and the involvement of the private sector, Kurdistan has been able to deploy the fiber optics network, change old exchanges, and kick-start Internet development. As the leading Internet provider in Iraqi Kurdistan, Newroz Telecom has been playing a fundamental role in the development of the Internet in the Kurdistan Region.

Furthermore, Junad emphasizes decoupling Iraq from Iraqi Kurdistan.