Cell phone companies to pay 1.875 billion ID

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The ministerial committee that supervises cell phone contracts in Iraq recommended to the council of ministers that cell phone companies working in the country should pay 1.875 billion Iraqi diners (ID), the media director of the Iraqi Finance Ministry said on Wednesday. “Each of the three companies (Atheer, Asiacell and Korek) is in debt of $625 million to the Iraqi government,” Brigadier Adnan Abdulrahman told IraqiNews.com news agency. “The companies were supposed to pay the debt in March 2008, but they filed a request to the committee requesting an extension,” he said. “The council of ministers agreed that the companies can pay the amount in dispatches on the condition that the service would be improved,” he added. “As the service did not improve, the committee made this recommendation,” he noted. MH (P)/SR 1