Korek Telecom

In March 2011, France Télécom (now Orange S.A.) acquired a 20% indirect stake in Korek Telecom.^[3]

On Jan 1, 2015, Korek launched^[4] 3G in Iraq after winning one of the three 3G licenses awarded by the government of Iraq. On Dec 16, 2015, Korek became the first operator in Iraq to launch Free Basics^[5] in Iraq in partnership with Internet.org and Facebook.

In March 2023, the company was implicated in a major corruption scandal and found guilty of bribing regulators, self-dealing, diversions of corporate assets, sham loans, and other illegal schemes.^[6] The Paris-based International Court of Arbitration found Korek and its founder and controlling shareholder Sirwan Barzani guilty of ‘fraud and corruption’ and awarded $1.65 billion in damages to Iraq Telecom Limited, a joint venture of Kuwaiti company Agility and French Orange Group, and International Holdings.^[7]

On 9 August 2026, the Iraqi telecommunications regulator (CMC) ordered the full seizure of all movable and immovable assets belonging to Korek.^[8] Korek released a statement complaining about the actions taken against it and pleading to the Iraqi prime minister for intervention. Korek cited a formal agreement reached in 2025 between it and CMC which had been cancelled by the latter. According to CMC, Korek had violated the conditions of the agreement by failing to meet the legal and financial obligations therein, effectively rendering the agreement void.^[9][10] The shutdown of the company began on 10 August 2026. On 19 August 2026, CMC urged all Korek users to register with other licensed telecommunications operators and set up alternative authentication and recovery methods in order to avoid losing access to their accounts registered with Korek numbers as well as avoid data loss.^[11]

• Asiacell
• Zain Iraq [ar]
• Telephone numbers in Iraq