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VoIP Beats Conventional Phone Service In Iraq 144

Posted by timothy from the you-would-think-so dept.
andyring writes "According to this article at Wired, without reliable long distance or particularly international telephone service in Iraq, citizens in Baghdad and elsewhere turn to voice chat over programs such as Yahoo Voice Chat or other similar programs. Broadband at Internet cafes in Baghdad runs about $1/hr, whereas an international phone call (if you can even get a connection) is about $1/minute. The service is so popular, it sucks up almost all the available bandwidth from the government-run ISP, State Company for Internet Services (site is Arabic)."
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VoIP Beats Conventional Phone Service In Iraq More

VoIP Beats Conventional Phone Service In Iraq

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  • Blink warning! (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Urkki ( 668283 ) on Tuesday July 29, 2003 @05:51AM (#6557554)
    Is it just my browser's bad interpretation of arabic letters, or do they actually use blink tags liberally at that www.uruklink.net front page?

    Ewww...

    • Last time I checked with IE (a long time ago), it didn't support the <blink> tag. So I guess the webmaster tried to have some fun with that tag, saw it didn't work (assuming he used IE) and then couldn't be arsed to remove the tags...

    • Re:Blink warning! (Score:2, Informative)

      by henrygb ( 668225 )
      The body tag has style="font-family: Tahoma; text-decoration: blink"

      If you use MSIE then you don't see it.

      • I use Opera7 and I don't see it. Somehow I've been online since 1998 and I've never, ever seen a blink tag in action. I know it's probably annoying but just once... just once.

    • Re:Blink warning! (Score:5, Funny)

      by stevenp ( 610846 ) on Tuesday July 29, 2003 @05:58AM (#6557575)
      >> Is it just my browser's bad interpretation of arabic letters, or do they actually use blink tags liberally at that www.uruklink.net front page?

      I am not too good at arabic, but I suppose the blinking text on the front page says: "We are currently being slashdotted, please try again later!!!"

    • Re:Blink warning! (Score:1, Interesting)

      by isam_b ( 635273 )
      Infact this site is made by the Americans or those who take orders from the Americans.. as the Arabic Linkx are for: - Radio Sawa: which is a Voice of America in Arabic - BBC Arabic Service - and Monti Carlo Radio Maybe they want to warn us from listening to those channels
    • Try using this translation [ajeeb.com] engine. registration required,tho
      Found it useful during the "great liberation" to read arab news sites.
    • Mozilla is your friend...

      go to about:config, find the browser.blink_allowed setting, tweak as you like....:-)

  • Correction (Score:5, Funny)

    by borgdows ( 599861 ) on Tuesday July 29, 2003 @05:51AM (#6557555)
    The service is so popular, it sucks up almost all the available bandwidth from the government-run ISP (LINK)

    It isn't true anymore... from now it is Slashdoters who suck up almost all the available bandwidth...

    • Re:Correction (Score:5, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 29, 2003 @07:17AM (#6557741)
      The Slashdot infidels are NOT using up all our bandwidth! They can NOT Slashdot us! We are, in fact, slashdotting Slashdot as we speak!

      -- Iraq/SCO Information Minister
    • And by "available bandwidth" they mean everything that's left over after you account for the massive DDoS undoubtedly going on against their routers.

      Oh, and Uday's alt.binaries.pictures.erotica.* feed, which I suppose they can shut off now.

  • Currency screws up comparisons... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by jkrise ( 535370 ) on Tuesday July 29, 2003 @05:53AM (#6557558) Journal
    In India, Broadband is 40 cents an hour, much less than $1 that the Iraqi ISP charges. Indian ISPs still make profits.

    The dollar is inflated so much, it renders any comparison useless. Going by the article, Iraq could make more money selling bandwidth to the US than oil. But that would never happen, would it?

    -

    • Re:Currency screws up comparisons... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by fruey ( 563914 ) on Tuesday July 29, 2003 @06:57AM (#6557690) Homepage Journal
      Something tells me that we're not looking at market forces properly here. What infrastructure would Iraq use in order to sell their bandwidth to the US? This post just doesn't make sense. Bandwidth cost is a function of infrastructure costs, competition in the marketplace, and the market demand. It's not a commodity like oil.
      • What infrastructure would Iraq use in order to sell their bandwidth to the US?

        The same infra that's in the US.

        Bandwidth cost is a function of infrastructure costs, competition in the marketplace, and the market demand

        The average syadmin in America costs $5,000 per month. The same quality, or even better can be hired for about $300 in Iraq and about $200 in India.

        Even assuming establishment costs for bandwidth are same, maintenance and running costs overseas would be a tiny fraction of the US costing.
    • The costs of broadband depend largely on factors like how many sites you need to get it to and what you want at the other end. If you're doing broadband only to a set of internet cafes, it's cheap and easy, because you avoid the last mile (i.e., getting a high-quality wire to every single person from the central point) entirely; the Iraqis walk the last mile, sit down, and use the computer there. You also save a lot in installation costs if you don't have to worry about buildings, roads, and stuff in the wa
    • Going by the article, Iraq could make more money selling bandwidth to the US than oil. But that would never happen, would it?

      About the same time they start exporting Manhattan real estate from Iraq.

      Are you not aware of what you are purchasing when you buy bandwidth?

  • Voice? Miranda.. (Score:4, Interesting)

    by castrox ( 630511 ) <stefanNO@SPAMverzel.se> on Tuesday July 29, 2003 @05:54AM (#6557561)
    .. hope they've learned of the awesome power of Miranda [miranda-im.org].

    Didn't try it, but there's an example of a voice plugin [miranda-im.org].

  • I've got some experience with VoIP (Score:5, Interesting)

    by WegianWarrior ( 649800 ) on Tuesday July 29, 2003 @05:55AM (#6557564) Journal

    Not because I'm in a war-torn area with a flaky tele-com strukture, but simply because I live in Norway and has my girlfriend (fiancee really) in the US. While the quality of the connection cannot rival - or even get close - to that of a conventilan landline, it is offset by the fact that I don't have to pay thru the nose to spend an hour or so hearing her voice.



    Voice over IP - it's a blessing in my life!

    • Re:I've got some experience with VoIP (Score:5, Funny)

      by VirexEye ( 572399 ) on Tuesday July 29, 2003 @06:05AM (#6557596) Homepage
      You were just waiting for a reason to gloat that you have a fiancee to the slashdot crowd weren't you?

      • Re:I've got some experience with VoIP (Score:5, Funny)

        by Timesprout ( 579035 ) on Tuesday July 29, 2003 @06:13AM (#6557610)
        He probably wont for much longer if she reads /. and discovers he considers her a 'girlfriend' and he's too cheap to phone her :-)

        • Re:I've got some experience with VoIP (Score:4, Interesting)

          by SlamMan ( 221834 ) on Tuesday July 29, 2003 @07:19AM (#6557745)
          I know you're making a joke, but the psoter has an extremely valid point. As somebody who's girlfriend is 2 time zones away, with the money I'm saving using VoIP stuff, it easily covers a dozen flowers delivered to her school every now and again, or *gasp* flying out to see her for a weekend.

          Besides, VoIP isn't much worse than most international calls I've had.
        • Yeah but he lives in Norway meaning he would probably pay about 10 dollars a minute to call over here. I one time paid 4 dollars for a Coke in Bergen!

          That's socialism

          --Joey
          • Whats the price of a coke-can got todo with socialism? It's capitalism at its finest ffs.

            You can buy a cokecan for 1 dollar easily, 0.50 at distributing channels, but someone prefered to rip your american ass.

            (Yeah, I'm still laughing).

            • I paid 1 dollar for a coke in a small town (Balestrand) 25 kroner was pretty standard for a coke.

              Socialism (and the taxes that support it) drive costs up for everyone.

              It is like how frivolous lawsuits over here drive the costs of healthcare through the roof.

              --Joey
              • yeah, that and jury costs for relasing white police officers after beating black people up.

                it isnt socialism that makes your coke cost 25 kronor, if it was socialism it would be "people-coke" and cost exactly what it takes to produce+ship it.

                sweden and norway isnt socialistic in the marxhistic coining. we're no more socialists here than anywhere else in europe.

                its just you americans that aint openminded enough to realise that there can be two kinds of meaning to a single word.

                i recommend you start train
                • yeah, that and jury costs for relasing white police officers after beating black people up.

                  Yup that is all that we do over here.

                  it isnt socialism that makes your coke cost 25 kronor, if it was socialism it would be "people-coke" and cost exactly what it takes to produce+ship it.

                  No, we have elements of Socialism here in the United States (public education, parks etc). Cuba, China, N. Korea et al are not Socialists, they are Communists. I hate using the Socialist euphemism to describe the evils of those
                  • ok, this is going very offtopic and i really dont wanna make myself more stupid than i already look ;)
                    anyway, you'll have to realize thats its all relative, to me, sweden is very _very_ far away from what i would call socialistic in the sense of former russia. socialism to me is about stopping people from exercising their right to live the life they want themselfs. to me socialism is evil. socialism takes your rights and generalises you with the rest of the population no matter how good or skilled you are.
                    • what is my point of humanity? its the right to be able to live a life where you dont have to rely on others for food, where you dont have to have two jobs to support your kids, where you can take two weeks of vacation without getting fired from your employeer.

                      and sincerely, is that what you have in america today?

                      We have those too, we just don't go as overboard. You can take two weeks vacation and be fine with your employer most of the time. We just don't start out with a month and proceed to 2 months thr
          • So she can call him. Verizon is $.14 a minute/$3 monthly fee. 10-10-987 is $.03 a minute/$.39 connect charge. I could talk for over 5 hours on $10 bucks. I live in the US. I once paid $4 for a coke at a movie theater. If you don't want to pay that much, do buy it.
          • "I one time paid 4 dollars for a Coke in Bergen"

            Ive done that at just about all movie theaters and sports arenas I've been to in the U.S.
          • Sure...

            Try to devide it by 100.
            We pay less than 10 cent a minute for calls to the US, and that's with the former goverment-owned monopoly. With other operators it's 7-8 cents.

            - Ost

          • I one time paid 4 dollars for a Coke in Bergen

            [-1, offtopic]

            Might I suggest that you have too many dollars and too little sense? Surely beer can be had there on more equable terms; it is more healthful, and generally a more desirable beverage to boot.

            Might I also suggest that they have there too many [local monetary units] and not enough competition in telecommunications? Much of Europe is said to meter even local calls, and international calling rates are mind numbing.

            It appears here t

      • Re:I've got some experience with VoIP (Score:5, Funny)

        by Jacer ( 574383 ) on Tuesday July 29, 2003 @07:01AM (#6557703) Homepage
        He left out the very best part! They met via hotornot.com
      • I'm an authority on this subject, because a friend of mine once dated a girl. Actually, we never met her, but he showed us emails and pictures, so it must have been real.

        My dictionary defines "fiancee" as "a mother-in-law waiting to happen", which sounds pretty drastic.

        I think I'll stick with my geektoys for now.

    • Re:I've got some experience with VoIP (Score:5, Interesting)

      by nadaou ( 535365 ) on Tuesday July 29, 2003 @06:42AM (#6557661) Homepage
      I usually get a better connection with SpeakFreely than I do over a simultaneous land line connection for my frequent calls to the south pacific. Quite a lot better actually. [Both parties on broadband] My understanding is that the phone co's compress as many calls as they possibly can over those undersea cables..

      more plug: [slashdot.org]
      here
    • Try Apple's iChat AV. I am in Germany using DSL, my Dad is in South Africa on an ISDN line --- we get phone quality connections with no lag (and packets to .za generally wander through New York on the way there).

      We had previously tried netmeeting and yahoo chat and the quality was unacceptable. iChat rocks.
    • When I was in Ecuador, I found that net2phone was THE standard for international calls. It cost about $6 per hour which is still a heck of a good deal compared to a land line.

      My wife is in Indonesia, and for better or worse, it is the other way arround. We have been trying to use VOIP to communicate, but a landline only costs $0.06/min so there is not much incentive. I still think that VOIP would be good because it would enable me to send her flowers more often, etc. but it isn't as much of an issue...

  • Whaaaa? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 29, 2003 @05:56AM (#6557571)
    Iraq actually still HAS an IP infrastructure? They have no electicity or running water but they can still surf porn sites, huh?

    • Re:Whaaaa? (Score:1, Troll)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Iraq used to have a lot of kick ass fiber but the American's blew it up so that the communications firm owned by the new Colonial Overlord could rebuild it and suck down some of that juicy tax money! Woohoo!

      Actually Iraq was one of the most progressive and advanced of all the Arab countries mainly becuase it had been independant from western imperialism for 50 years. 50 years too long according to the Uk and USA hence it had to be reconquered, don't won't those uppity Arabs ruling themselves!

    • Re:Whaaaa? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by sql*kitten ( 1359 ) * on Tuesday July 29, 2003 @08:06AM (#6557867)
      Iraq actually still HAS an IP infrastructure? They have no electicity or running water but they can still surf porn sites, huh?

      IP infrastructure is considerably easier to setup and maintain. Yeah, I can hear a horde of CCIE geeks squealing that routing is so much more complex than simple utilities like power and water. But installing and running a router is childishly simple compared to installing and running a power station or a desalination plant. You can put up a microwave relay for IP in minutes, but it would take weeks to lay water mains and sewers over the same distance. That's why the internet is available while "simple" utilities aren't: because they aren't simple at all.

    • Re:Whaaaa? (Score:3, Informative)

      by deanj ( 519759 )
      What do you mean no electricty or running water? Those are up and running:

      See here for details [snopes.com]

  • Same for lots of places in the Third world (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Raindeer ( 104129 ) on Tuesday July 29, 2003 @06:01AM (#6557586) Homepage Journal
    I used to live in a dorm with MBA's from all over the world and it was pretty obvious that the 100mbit switched network was loved most by those from countries with bad phone systems. Many of them bought a webcam, a microphone and were chatting away with friends and family back home or anywhere else in the world. It was cheaper and it gave alot less hassle with delays and operators and the like. Mind you, one does need a computer and dial up tot the internet, so this is only for the semi-richer people and those that can go tot internet-cafe's

    On a related note, once at a RIPE-meeting a gentleman from Africa got a clunky looking phone (bit eighties style) from his briefcase, picked up the UTP that lay there for use with laptops and hooked the phone up to it. Within seconds he was chatting away with someone in Africa... YOu should have seen the stunned face on some of the geeks there. :-)

  • This isn't new (Score:4, Informative)

    by vishakh ( 188958 ) <vishakh&yahoo,com> on Tuesday July 29, 2003 @06:04AM (#6557591) Homepage
    Using something like Yahoo Messenger to talk to people instead of using long distance isn't a new phenomenon. I have personally been using Yahoo Messenger and (before) Net2Phone on MSN Messenger to talk to people in England and India. International call rates aren't prohibitively expensive for me but it still makes sense to save a lot of money by using a free service. Voice quality isn't bad at all- most of the times it seems quite natural in a telephone sort of way. It works almost perfeclty if one or both parties have a broadband connection. Also, I have been talking to and have stayed connected to people who I otherwise wouldn't have been in touch with.

    A lot of the people I talk to wouldn't be able to afford international telephony or find it very expensive at best. These people have been using tools such as Yahoo Messenger to stay connected for quite some while now.

    • Re:This isn't new (Score:1, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Also, many of the cheap-call newborn telcos do relay on transparent VoIP to encapsulate normal phone traffic... thats no news

  • It is the same all over (Score:3, Informative)

    by emj ( 15659 ) on Tuesday July 29, 2003 @06:04AM (#6557593) Journal
    IT is the same in all third world countries, but if the surfing got big really before VOIP it usually wont work because there is no bandwidth left for the internet cafés to use. Instead special phone companies that carry longdistance call over ip has sprung up, but that is expensive about a third of a per minute.

  • Benefits are great (Score:4, Funny)

    by el_flynn ( 1279 ) on Tuesday July 29, 2003 @06:09AM (#6557603) Homepage
    working halfway across the globe, I regularly use yahoo messenger to hold meetings with the US office. we've once even hooked up a machine with a webcam and had an entire department meeting that way.

    of course someone had to sit in front of the pc so they could voice out what i said, and sound quality was a bit lacking, but it was a fantastic way to have teleconferencing on the cheap.

    plus enabling the messenger's sounds allowed me to generate an annoying "ding" whenever someone said something silly heheh

  • Might As Well Do It Right (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Bloodmoon1 ( 604793 ) <`moc.liamg' `ta' `noirepyh.eb'> on Tuesday July 29, 2003 @06:14AM (#6557615) Homepage Journal
    While I have no idea how much of Iraq's infrastructure we took out in the recent war (and, apparently, neither does the CIA, read from below link), I bet it was probably a pretty healthy amount. And seeing as they didn't have that much [cia.gov] to begin with, this might actually be a very great thing for Iraq and her people. Since the country's comm. systems were already pretty lacking, and since a presumably fair amount of said systems we're damaged/destroyed, this provides Iraq with a golden opportunity to have a rebuilt, ultra modern communications system. If we do it right, Iraq could very well have one of the most technologically advanced comm. systems ever designed. And the people of Iraq, at least based on this story, seem more than willing to embrace the technology and as such would probably be willing to try out the newest communications technology. This would be the perfect time and place to test new/unproven technologies and if they work well, we could adopt them here in the U.S. and elsewhere in the world. Make the best of a bad situation.
    • They're getting GSM cellphones so don't count on the newest communications technology for mobile phones. Then again, that might not be a bad thing.
      • re GSm -

        Sometimes it is worthwhile going for the best technology rather than the newest!

        seriously though - I understand CDMA is progressing faster with data transport, but GSM is much closer to providing a global standard with all the interoperabality benefits that brings.
    • OK, fair enough, they're willing to embrace this technology. That's a good first step.

      So when will they be able to afford this technology? How many Iraqi citizens even have computers? I know I'm coming from a position of ignorance, but it seems to me that the Iraqi people have bigger problems at the moment than lacking a quality communications infrastructure.

      • OK, fair enough, they're willing to embrace this technology. That's a good first step.

        If Iraqis were not willing to embrace technology then Iraq would never have existed, nor would all the versions of the religion of Abraham. Indeed the last few thousand years of history might well be very different.

        So when will they be able to afford this technology? How many Iraqi citizens even have computers? I know I'm coming from a position of ignorance, but it seems to me that the Iraqi people have bigger problems

    • Re:Might As Well Do It Right (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Bushcat ( 615449 ) on Tuesday July 29, 2003 @07:00AM (#6557702)
      This would be the perfect time and place to test new/unproven technologies...

      In markets like Iraq, India and (especially) China, the "new" technologies are easier to roll out because there isn't a strong legacy technology to displace. Consider cellphones: in Iraq, cellphone networks seem to be automagically re-emerging because network damage is effectively point failure, since there is relatively little wired backbone to maintain. Whereas restoring a badly-damaged POTS network can take serious time and expense. In China, where there is little legacy technology, cellular networks are cost effective because they are not replacing a POTS network: if cellular isn't built, something else has to be. In Iraq, there is probably a substantial military data network infrastructure that can easily be converted to a public backbone. In other words, VOIP & cellular may be the only sensible options in emerging/recovering economies, and POTS is the expensive option.

    • err...? (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Wrexs0ul ( 515885 )
      While I agree it takes a radical change to bring in new technology the fact is Iraq HAD one of the most advanced communication networks before it was blown up. I understand it's necessary to black out communications when you're at war but saying Iraq's previous systems were lacking is a major understatement.

      -Matt
      • While I agree it takes a radical change to bring in new technology the fact is Iraq HAD one of the most advanced communication networks before it was blown up.

        I have no idea what their civillian network was like. But I recall reading an article prior to the war about their military network for controlling their AA batteries - which was the very top of top notch. Not that it did them much good, I'm sure it was the very first thing taken out.

        • Re:err...? (Score:2, Funny)

          by cellocgw ( 617879 )
          But I recall reading an article prior to the war about their military network for controlling their AA batteries - which was the very top of top notch. Not that it did them much good, I'm sure it was the very first thing taken out.

          Goes to show.... they should have stuck with D batteries. :-)

    • this provides Iraq with a golden opportunity to have a rebuilt, ultra modern communications system. If we do it right, Iraq could very well have one of the most technologically advanced comm. systems ever designed. And the people of Iraq, at least based on this story, seem more than willing to embrace the technology and as such would probably be willing to try out the newest communications technology. This would be the perfect time and place to test new/unproven technologies and if they work well, we could
      • Bush the liar....PLEASE, give me a break, and grind your axe elsewhere. If you'd rather have women being raped, mass graves, children in prison, when admit that someone should have gone in there a long time ago to save those people, then just say that.
        • Yup...gotta love it when the truth is classified as flamebait.
        • That Bush is not a liar?

          --Or that Bush's prime directive was to 'Save those People'? I wonder what your naive excuse will be when your country takes out Syria, Iran, chunks of Africa, Korea, and then insanely hurls itself at China, (the mouse waking up the elephant.)

          In any case, I suppose the fact that the Iraqis are sending a couple of U.S. boys home in bags every day is a sign that they truly appreciate their 'liberation'.

          It'll be interesting to see how much you appreciate being 'liberated' when the w
          • Ok deuche, you had me not annoyed until this one. Figure it out junior. By and large, Iraq's civilian population is quite happy we are there. I think whenever we all saw the Saddam statue fall, and people running through the streets hitting the head with their shoes, it became pretty apparent they like us. Women blow kisses and throw flowers to passing military convoys, children play with our soilders, and most grown men actively go to our men and say thank you. Because a few left overs from Saddam's regime
            • Dude!

              You are in for one HUGE rude awakening.

              How do I put this. . .

              There have only been three countries which use the Eagle for its national symbol. The Roman empire, which was taken down by the Mongol hoards (Russia/Greater-Asia), Nazi Germany, where its back was broken in part by Russia, and a coalition of European and American forces. And now America, which also thinks it is invincible, and which will ALSO break its back on Asia.

              I believe in patterns. Heck, even Nostrodamus saw this one coming, whe
      • Belco had the chance to bid on the contract, and decided to side-step everything to try and take over. If this had been an American company that tried to do it, you'd be screaming for freaking head off. Sorry, but mark this one down as yet another troll.
        • Ah. Another person who seems to define 'Troll' as 'Any Viewpoint which he doesn't agree with'.

          How incredibly lame.

          But definitions aside, let me add a few points in no particular order. . .

          1. Betelco, if it runs a clean operation, knows that it doesn't have a chance in hell to win such a contract. The British have only a 20% share in the company, and the rest is owned by Semitic interests, who we all know are terrorists and not white. No. That just won't do.

          2. It's all about cell phones, which are nas

    • Since the country's comm. systems were already pretty lacking, and since a presumably fair amount of said systems we're damaged/destroyed, this provides Iraq with a golden opportunity to have a rebuilt, ultra modern communications system.

      Like it happened in Eastern Germany?
      Deutsche Telekom used fibre wires everywhere. Now they can't implement DSL, because the copper-to-optical converters are not in a central place, but burried in every street/house. And optical DSL-like solutions are too expensive, becau

  • Corporate Use (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 29, 2003 @06:31AM (#6557639)
    I work for a large telecommunications company and we have all our internal communications set up using VOIP.
    I can dial my colleagues in all our offices throughout the globe from my desk phone to their desk phone using a series of short-codes. Of course this is only for fixed line at the moment but it must save us a great deal each day on video and regular conference lines.

    The quality and response is noticeable if you know what you're looking for, but to the regular listener it just sounds like you have a clear line.

    • > using a series of short-codes

      You mean as in 10 . 42 . 24 .69 ?

      PS. I bet you 5000 quatloos that you don't run your data over the same network...

  • obligatory SpeakFreely plug (Score:5, Informative)

    by nadaou ( 535365 ) on Tuesday July 29, 2003 @06:34AM (#6557645) Homepage
    [yes, this is a repost from another story. but it's a really really good program]

    If you are looking for a nice Open Source VoIP client that works on Windows, Linux, and OS/X, try Speakfreely. For linux/osx track down the Tcl/Tk GUI.

    encryption, multiple codecs, NAT, the works.

    http://www.fourmilab.ch/speakfree/

    The original author and once-again maintainer is John Walker, founder of Autodesk, Inc. and co-author of AutoCAD. (!!!)

    note: the debian package is criminally out of date and www.speakfreely.org is depreciated, out of date, and morphed into a commercial site.

  • No Sat. Phones? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by aerojad ( 594561 ) on Tuesday July 29, 2003 @06:56AM (#6557686) Homepage Journal
    I vaguely remember that after the Afghanistan war had ended and people could buy things again, Satellite phones were a hugely hot item, for those who could afford it, since there wasn't much of a land-line network cross country, or cell network outside of major cities. Why hasn't this happened in Iraq yet? I would think it more likely there because they do have more $ in that country than in Afghanistan.

    • This might be a difference in topography. Afganistan is hugely mountainous, so it's very non-practical to use cable. There's no cable there. Wireless / satellite is the way to go.
      On the other hand, Iraq is flat. Also, Iraq's population might be living in cities while afgans are all around. This is a guess, but I'd suppose Iraq has cable links already. No need for satellite.

    • why? well... there was a wireless (GSM) network in place already, due to a service by some kuwaiti company (iirc). It was pressed out of service by the current iraqi rulers, because qualcomm was givem permission to put a wireless (non-GSM, and incompatible with surrounding countries) network in place...

  • A warning Page ! (Score:4, Interesting)

    by isam_b ( 635273 ) on Tuesday July 29, 2003 @07:07AM (#6557717) Homepage
    Infact this site is made by the Americans or those who take orders from the Americans.. as the Arabic Linkx are for:
    • Radio Sawa: which is a Voice of America in Arabic
    • BBC Arabic Service
    • and Monti Carlo Radio

    Maybe they want to warn us from listening to those channels

  • VoIP from GSM data phones (Score:3, Interesting)

    by taleman ( 147513 ) on Tuesday July 29, 2003 @07:15AM (#6557736) Homepage
    Interesting to see how GSM data connections affect voice call pricing. With a laptop connected to GPRS enabled mobile phone it is already possible to use VoIP programs to get voice calls essentially free if a fixed monthly fee data connection is available.

    Even with a data limit of 1M Bytes, two hours of voice are possible with 64kbit/s data rate. More hours are possible with compression, I believe GSM phones use about 8kbits/s and voice quality is still acceptable.

    With a mobile phone that can run TCP/IP and some VoIP program like GNU oSIP [fsf.org] voice calls can be free, so charging current prices works only if mobile operators can ban VoIP.

  • One ISP to rule them all (Score:3, Funny)

    by Whitecloud ( 649593 ) on Tuesday July 29, 2003 @07:33AM (#6557780) Homepage
    The service is so popular, it sucks up almost all the available bandwidth from the government-run ISP, State Company for Internet Services (site is Arabic)."

    State Company for Internet Services = uruklink.net?? Arabic? sounds like the Black Speech, those orcs are wired!

    • State Company for Internet Services = uruklink.net?? Arabic? sounds like the Black Speech, those orcs are wired!

      Congratulations, you just discovered the racist undertones in LoTR, the roundabout way :)

  • Vonage (Score:4, Insightful)

    by caffeinex36 ( 608768 ) on Tuesday July 29, 2003 @07:34AM (#6557782)
    The best move I ever made was getting rid of verizon and switching to Vonage. I have yet to regret it. VoiP Is SO the way to go...even to the door step!

    • Re:Vonage (Score:3, Informative)

      by hedley ( 8715 )

      I agree VoIP is the way. I use Packet8 and could not be happier. $20/m for unlimited LD calling and I can kiss AT&T goodbye.

      Hedley
  • This is not surprising. Getting a conventional POTS line in many countries is difficult: If there isn't an existing line where you want the phone, you'll be expected to pay the cost of putting one in; the infrastructure may be old, decrepit and, hence, unreliable; you may face a choice between waiting forever to get your phone or paying expensive bribes.

    Conditions like that drive cellphone sales; VOIP is just one more alterantive.
  • Two very, very different things.
  • .. blowing up poles, wires, POPs and everything in between!
    Liberation, nation-building and infrastructure upgrade in one convinient package.
  • making crank phone calls to the whitehouse.
  • Holy crap! I know people hate when the BLINK tag is used on one or two words on a page, but that ISP [uruklink.net] is using it on ALL of the text. Yes, all of the text on the page is blinking.

    Sorry, but I just can't get over how stupid that is.
  • I buddy of mine is down in the "big sand box" and has a MCI cellphone, funny thing is his phone number is local to NYC. When I talked to him, it would drop evey 5 -10 minutes.
  • Here we have a clear demonstration of What People Want. So how are we handling this in the free USA? Telcos are lobbying their legislative hirelings state by state, getting laws passed that will allow them to forbid customers using VoIP, or any other function that threatens profit.
  • forwarded to Robert Fisk, the journalist/commentator for The Independent, his editor said he doesn't have email?

    I'm like, what fraggin' reporter these days doesn't have email? Maybe she meant since he was in Baghdad, he didn't have ready access to email.

  • ... Iraq will get Running Water over IP, Food over IP, Medicine over IP and the killer application - Electricity over IP.

    Stay tuned...

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