State Company for Internet Services in Iraq, also known as URUKLINK called after its website, was founded on December 11, 1999. It was originally the sole Iraqi Internet service provider until 2003, when it began to face competition from other ISPs, including broadband satellite internet access services from both Middle Eastern and European VSAT hubs.
Uruklink's website provides access to the homepages of the ministries for communication, oil, construction and housing, the central bank and the Red Crescent Society.[1]
Until the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, Internet access was tightly controlled and very few people were thought to be online; in 2002 it was estimated that only 25,000 Iraqis used the Internet.