Henry's Web Log

After 9 months in Basra, I finally have my own Internet connection! The COB has awarded an Iraqi-based company, Al Dalham, with a contract for wireless and wired Internet service. They have several bandwidth options, but the common plan seems to be 128K for $70/month.
Several visits to their office, and lots of trying to connect, revealed there was just too much spectrum interference for me to use wifi. So the manager dispatched these two young men, who quickly set up a receiver, spliced the Cat V cable, and configured my IP addresses to have a wired connection.
I was impressed. But for my readers that are headed to Basra, be patient! It took about 2 weeks of me working with the Al Dalham team, showing them my problems, and patiently returning time after time.
They're on a learning curve, but I'll say this: they're learning fast. I expect it's already twice as good as when I bought in two weeks ago.
There was some give and take, too. I helped proof-read some of their marketing material, and I escorted one of their technicians out to the antenna that was giving me trouble.
So in the big picture, how does this mirror the growth and progress in Iraq? Very well, I think.
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