Using Phone Cards to Iraq
February 6, 2008
With so many deployed troops to Southwest Asia, you need a phone card to keep in touch with your loved ones at anytime of the day. Judd Anstey, public affairs specialist for the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, told American Forces Press Service, that just about any calling card will work for servicemembers calling the United States from Southwest Asia. The big question, he said, boils down to which card offers the lowest per- minute talking charges.
There are plenty of offers out there for calling Iraq but here’s what you need to know before making a choice.
Most military bases have AT&T pay phones installed and allow for the use of phone cards but these may not deliver the full amount of minutes since a pay phone fee is applied.
There are also DNS phones that can connect the soldiers to their homes. The rates are similar to that of calling from your home phone in the US.
Many phone cards offer some features to make them easier to use: no connection fee for calls placed, cards never expire, and the one the bought them can recharge them so the recipient doesn’t run out of calling minutes. Below you will find an useful list of codes you’ll need when you use your phone card to Iraq.
Main City Codes:
Amara 43, Baghdad 1, Basra 40, Diwaniya 36, Erbil 66, Hilla 30, Kerbela 32, Kirkuk 50, Kut 23, Mousil 60, Najaf 33, Nasariya 42, Ramadi 24, Sulaim Ani 53
Communications: Iraq
- Telephones – main lines in use:
- 675,000 (1997); note – an unknown number of telephone lines were damaged or destroyed during the March-April war
- Telephones – mobile cellular:
- NA; service available in northern Iraq (2001)
- Telephone system:
- general assessment: an unknown number of telecommunication facilities were damaged during the March-April 2003 war
- domestic: the network consists of coaxial cables and microwave radio relay links
- international: satellite earth stations – 2 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region), and 1 Arabsat (inoperative); coaxial cable and microwave radio relay to Jordan, Kuwait, Syria, and Turkey; Kuwait line is probably nonoperational
- Internet country code:
- .iq
- Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
- 1 (2000)
- Internet users:
- 12,500 (2001)
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