MyAdhan Blog

Link: Techno-savvy Iraqis surf the cyber waves

Saddam Hussein deemed Iraqis could live without modern technology such as mobile phones and the Internet. Now that his regime has been swept away, they are finding they just can’t get enough of it. “The Internet is indispensable for us,” said a Baghdad mobile phone vendor, who gave his name only as Sajjad. “I download songs, pictures of actresses and video clips,” added the 25-year-old salesman, who admitted that he then loads these, with a few modifications, into the phones he sells. “My clients ask for a lot for songs, pictures and weird and funny video clips which I usually download from YouTube.com,” said Sajjad. “Some of my clients have no money to buy credit so they cannot speak on their phones. But their handsets are filled with video clips, songs and pictures.” Another mobile phone dealer, Ali Adel, 31, said trade in cellphones had become brisk business since Saddam was toppled in the US-led invasion five years ago. “Second-hand phones are especially popular and we make most of our money from them,” he added. Prior to the invasion, no mobile phone network existed in Iraq and even private satellite phones were banned. Since March 2003, however, there has been an explosion in telephony, with three mobile networks and dozens of Internet service providers operating. This month, wireless fixed voice and data operator Itisaluna began rolling out Internet and modern telephony systems into homes across the war-battered country, with customers paying for the services using scratch cards priced at five, 10, 20 and 30 dollars. With Itisaluna and other providers bringing Internet into the home, Iraq’s cyberface has changed dramatically. “In the days of the former regime, there were only a few Internet cafes in hotels,” said the owner of “Centre Baghdad” cybercafe, who would be named only as Ali. “All of them were subject to monitoring and some websites were blocked,” he added. Iraqis recall the days during Saddam’s rule when their emails would be sent to a central monitoring unit which would decide whether it could be onpassed to the intended recipient.