US embassy cable - 02AMMAN2200

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Identifier:	02AMMAN2200
Wikileaks:	View 02AMMAN2200 at Wikileaks.org
Origin:	Embassy Amman
Created:	2002-05-06 05:51:00
Classification:	CONFIDENTIAL
Tags:	ECPS PREL IZ JO
Redacted:	This cable was not redacted by Wikileaks.

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 002200 
 
SIPDIS 
 
USDOC FOR 4520/ITA/MAC/ONE/PAUL THANOS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/26/2007 
TAGS: ECPS, PREL, IZ, JO 
SUBJECT: JORDAN TELECOM PLANS LINKS TO BAGHDAD 
 
Classified By: DCM GREGORY L. BERRY. REASONS 1.5 (B) 
AND (D). 
 
1.  (C) According to Jordan Telecom (JTC) CEO Pierre Mattei, 
JTC is planning to issue a request for proposals (RFP) to 
construct a fiber-optic telecommunications cable link between 
Amman and Baghdad within the next month.  He said that at 
present all Iraqi telecom traffic is currently routed via the 
Turkish satellite TurkSat, but this route would offer both 
redundancy and considerably higher capacity than the 
satellite link. 
 
2.  (C) Mattei assured us the route would be built in 
conformity with UN and ITU strictures regarding Iraq.  He 
suggested an Amman-Baghdad link would be more in Western 
interests than a possible Damascus-Baghdad connection, which 
is an alternative being shopped by Syrian telecom interests. 
Mattei added that, according to his information, the 
fiber-optic cable connecting Syria and Iraq had been 
virtually completed on the Syria side of the border.  (JTC is 
40 percent owned by France Telecom, from which Mattei is an 
employee on loan.) 
GNEHM