ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s Communications and Media Commission (CMC) on Sunday gave Korek Telecom subscribers until the end of September to secure their digital accounts before it begins shutting down the company’s telecom facilities in Baghdad and other Iraqi provinces.
In a statement, the CMC urged users who rely on Korek numbers for verification codes, authentication or account recovery to take “precautionary measures” before the deadline, warning that services connected to the company’s exchanges will be affected once they are shut down.
“The Commission confirms that, following the end of this specified deadline, it will proceed to shut down Korek Telecom’s switches and exchanges successively in the capital, Baghdad, and the remaining Iraqi provinces, as part of the regulatory and legal measures taken against the company,” the statement read.
The move comes amid a prolonged dispute between the regulator and Korek over the company’s regulatory and financial obligations.
Korek’s services began facing disruptions in late 2023 after the Commission took enforcement measures over the company’s unpaid financial obligations, restricting its internet services outside the Kurdistan Region and cutting interconnected calls with other networks across Iraq.
In late August, a Baghdad court overturned an injunction that had temporarily blocked the CMC from suspending Korek’s operations, upholding the regulator’s decision to proceed with measures against the company.
CMC chief Baligh Abu Kalal previously told Rudaw that Korek was “non-compliant with the Commission’s decisions” and that “the two sides have reached a dead end.”
He said the dispute was “purely technical,” adding that Korek owed the Commission more than two trillion dinars ($1.5 billion) and had external debts exceeding $1 billion.
In its latest statement, the CMC also clarified that its measures do not mean users should destroy their Korek SIM cards or abandon their existing numbers.
“These measures do not mean a call for users to destroy Korek SIM cards or give up their current numbers,” the commission said, adding that the aim is to give subscribers enough time to secure their digital accounts while legal and regulatory procedures concerning the company continue.
