Iraqis eye Kuwaiti cellular system; equipment status unknown

Mobile Phone News,  Feb 28, 1991  

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MOBILE PHONE NEWS has learned that during the mid-1980s, Ericsson Radio Systems Inc. sold land mobile radio system equipment to the Iraqi Ministry of Transport. Mini-link radio equipment and 3 MD110 PBX systems also were sold to several private companies in Iraq for public use.

At the time of the sale, the equipment had an open system architecture and was designed for public, not military uses, said Kathy Egan, spokeswoman for Ericsson.

However, additional sources told us that the cellular system Ericsson was constructing in Kuwait may: have been pilfered by Iraq following the invasion on Aug. 2. We have learned that, indeed, Ericsson nearly was finished building the Kuwaiti system--which included 10 cell sites. The network was not functional because the switch was missing a critical component. It is unlikely that Iraq has acquired the missing part to make the system operational, said an industry source.

A number of industry sources expressed doubt as to whether the Ericsson cellular system could be operational using equipment from the firm's land mobile system.

Since the land mobile equipment is dated-and -the Ericsson cellular equipment was state-of-the-art--it is not likely that the land mobile equipment was integrated into the cellular system, said 2 cellular system engineers familiar

with infrastructure designs.

The software controls that operate the T in-and-out ports on the switch are "very sophisticated" compared to the land mobile equipment, the engineers said.

Since the outbreak of hostilities in the Persian Gulf region, Iraq's communications infrastructure has received a great deal of attention from Allied forces. Operation Desert Storm participants are most concerned about the

types of communications systems Iraq is using and to what degree those technologies have aided the Iraqi army.

The Allies have the technology to identify exactly how Iraq is communicating, said the engineers, but government sources declined to reveal the specific methods.

MOBILE PHONE NEWS contacted the Defense Communications Agency (DCA), which said that it could not respond to questions concerning Iraq's communications capabilities and deferred all inquiries to the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD). Jan Walker, OSD spokeswoman, told us, "This information is not available through military channels."

Given the equipment MOBILE PHONE NEWS has identified as being purchased by Iraq in recent years or moved from Kuwait, a wide range of cellular and defense experts said there is more than one system architecture and interconnect method available to the Iraqis. ... We Are Almost Certain Iraq is Not Using Satellites

Military intelligence sources said it is easier to determine what Iraq is not using rather than to confirm what it is using. Regarding satellite-based communications, which provide links to foreign countries as well as interconnection to the public switched telephone network (PSTN). satellite industry sources said the Intelsat satellite earth stations in Kuwait and Iraq have been "knocked out" and increased security measures have been taken to safeguard the uplink stations in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and other neighboring Arab nations, reports our sister publication SATELLITE NEWS.

"I suspect the Iraqis have no satellite capabilities whatsoever," said Bruce Crockett, president of Washington-based Comsat World Systems division.

Iraq has not been using Inmarsat or Comsat satellites, but there is a possibility that it has access to Arabsat. However, the possibility that Iraq was using Arabsat is remote, said William Hilsman, former chief of defense communications for the Army. Without the use of satellites, Iraq has to depend on its copper, fiber, land mobile radio and cellular communications networks. ... Iraq's Cellular System is "Good"

Iraq is using cellular and the system is good. "It is surprising how good and advanced cellular systems outside the U.S. are," said a defense communications specialist.

The Allied forces know what frequencies the cellular system is operating on, he said. It does not take sophisticated equipment to detect what cellular frequencies are being used and where the equipment is located, he said, adding, "You can buy the equipment at Radio Shack." The system can be jammed if the Allies want the system jammed, said the source. Iraq has encryption capabilities but has not been encrypting all the transmissions, he said.

The part of the switch that connects it to the public switched telephone network may be rendered operational, but the cellular part of the switch cannot function with parts from the land mobile system, said Mario Salvadori, spokesman for Motorola. The software in the cellular equipment is very sophisticated compared to that of land mobile radio systems. This makes integration of the 2 technologies virtually impossible, said Salvadori.

However, the cellular system could be cannibalized," he said. Then the parts could be used to build some type of mobile communications system.