Asiacell is the first mobile telecommunications company in Iraq, was established in the city of Sulaymaniyah in 1999. Asiacell began its first commercial operations in the year 2000. The has a subscriber base of over 9.1 million as of Feb 2012. In October 2003, Asiacell was granted a two-year GSM license for the six northern provinces of Iraq. The license was extended in 2005 to cover the entirety of the Iraqi Republic. Consequently, today it is the only telecom network to provide coverage nationwide in Iraq.