Regional shutdown
Kurdistan
There are reports that Iraq’s Communications and Media Commission has ordered upstream providers to suspend Internet connectivity to local Internet Service Provider KorekTel due to "non-compliance with paying outstanding debts and continued violations” and “to encourage” the telecom company to “settle its debts.”
- Total Duration 104 days, 18 hours
Iraq
- Population
- 45,074,049
Freedom House rates Internet freedom as Partly Free
Local impact
Korek condemned the CMC’s actions as “illegal” at the time and expressed its willingness to resolve the issues in accordance with the law.
According to APNIC Labs, Korek (AS59625) provides Internet access to roughly 3% of Iraq's Internet user population (See Iraq Country Report>Top Internet service providers). It primarily serves the Kurdistan region.
Related documentation
Other supporting information
Cloudflare Radar shows that traffic from local Internet Service Provider KorekTel (AS59625) dropped from usual levels on Tuesday, 18 February.
IODA data shows that Internet Connectivity for KorekTel (AS59625) halved on 18 February from 19:00 UTC.
Social media
Urgent Statement pic.twitter.com/SzYkcHU5gY— Korek Telecom (@KorekTelecom) February 23, 2025
Sirwan Barzani, the CEO of the Erbil-based Korek Telecom, on Tuesday criticized a decision by Iraq’s Communications and Media Commission (CMC) to cut off internet services for the company as “political” and unrelated to its financial rows. https://t.co/EdrCeGGxAP — Rudaw English (@RudawEnglish) February 19, 2025
An ongoing #Internet disruption at #KorekTel in the Kurdistan region of #Iraq is related to a decision by Iraq’s Communications and Media Commission to cut off Internet services for the company.https://t.co/DUkqUPy2Efhttps://t.co/vVcwoq0g9l pic.twitter.com/65ALOdGNeW — Cloudflare Radar (@CloudflareRadar) February 19, 2025