REPAIRING THE LAND LINES

But I'm not sure that will help the communications with CPT Patti and crew.

The main contractor in charge of rebuilding infrastructure in Iraq has awarded struggling Lucent Technologies Inc. a $25 million contract for the emergency repair and rehabilitation of the communications network in Iraq, the companies announced Monday.

The contract is aimed at restoring service in Baghdad, where 240,000 of 540,000 telephone lines are out of service, according to Lucent and Bechtel National Inc. of San Francisco.

Before the war, about 1.1 million Iraqis subscribed to the Iraqi Telephone and Post Co. for landline telephone service. But even then, because of bombing in the first Gulf War and disrepair from trade sanctions, the network was estimated to require need $1 billion in repairs over seven to 10 years.