Harris Wins Contract for Development of Iraqi Media Network

Harris Corp. is among the winners in the bidding contest for business in Iraq.
The company said it has been awarded a $96 million contract by the Defense Contracting Command in Washington on behalf of the Coalition Provisional Authority governing Iraq, “for developing an existing but antiquated media network into a modern media organization for the Iraqi people.”
The Iraqi Media Network program includes equipment, operation, training and provisioning of programming for national radio and TV networks and a national newspaper with operating locations in Baghdad and more
than 30 other locations.
The contract is for one year. Two additional six-month contract options could increase the total value of the program to nearly $165 million, Harris stated.
The work will involve the company’s Broadcast Communications Division as well as its Government Communications Systems Division. The goal of the contract is to create from the existing organization a media network that will include two national radio channels, two national television channels and a national newspaper, “Al Sabah.”
“Harris will lead this project and provide all of the necessary transmitters, integration and automation broadcast equipment,” it stated, with support from The Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International, a Middle Eastern media network, and Al Fawares, a Kuwaiti company with Iraqi ownership. The former will train and provide content for the radio and television channels.
Harris created an Iraq Initiatives Office in July 2003. Company Chairman Howard Lance said, “We created a focused organization to support reconstruction efforts in Iraq and to apply the unique capabilities that Harris has to offer in both commercial and government communications systems.”