Iran orders telecom company to extend coverage to Abu Mousa

Dubai:  The Iranian government has ordered the country's second-largest telcoms operator MTN Irancell to extend its network to cover Abu Mousa and other islands in the Arabian Gulf, after Iranian visitors to Abu Mousa received mobile phone messages welcoming them to the UAE.

Iran occupies Abu Mousa and two other UAE islands near the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which one fifth of the world's crude oil supply passes.

Tensions over the issue have risen after a visit last month by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Abu Mousa, the first by an Iranian president, sparked a storm of protest from both the UAE and its Gulf Arab allies.

Now reports that Irancell's coverage doesn't extend to Abu Mousa have caused anger within Iran, with parliament speaker Ali Larijani calling for a "serious and public" investigation into the matter.

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Irancell's public relations manager Arash Karimbeigi was quoted in Iranian newspapers as saying that the company has an agreement with etisalat to provide coverage in some areas of the Arabian Gulf that are out of Irancell's range, resulting in Iranian visitors to Abu Mousa receiving SMS messages from the etisalat network welcoming them to the UAE.

"It was a technical problem... the Iranian Foreign Ministry has given directives to Irancell to enhance the coverage... and not to fall in a similar mistake in the future," Alireza Enayati, director of the Arabian Gulf affairs at the Iranian foreign ministry told Zawya Dow Jones. Enayati said Irancell has yet to respond to a request from Iran's Ministry of Information and Communication Technology for more information about its mobile phone coverage.

Etisalat did not respond to requests for comment. Irancell and the Iranian communication ministry could not be reached for comment.

Irancell is the second largest mobile phone operator in Iran, with a 28 per cent share of the local market. South Africa's MTN Group holds a minority 49 per cent stake in Irancell, with the remainder owned by Iran Electronic Development Company. Telecommunication Company of Iran, also known as MCI-Hamrah Aval, is the largest tele-coms operator in Iran with a 70 per cent market share.