Telecommunications in Syria
The Syrian Ministry of Communications retains governmental authority over the internet in Syria.[1] Prior to the Syrian civil war, telecommunications in Syria were slowly moving towards liberalization, with a number of licenses awarded and services launched in the Internet service provision market. The initiative reflected the government's change in attitude towards liberalization, following its promise to the European Union to liberalize markets by 2010. All other forms of fixed-line communications are provided by the state-owned operator, Syrian Telecom (STE).[2]
Telecommunications system
Landline telephones in use in 2009: 4,069,000.[4]
. There is mobile phone coverage in most parts of Syria providing access to 96% of the population. Call quality ranges from good to acceptable. Many international calls fail or are less clear over the mobile network compared to the landline network.
Radio: 14 AM, 11 FM, and 1 shortwave stations in 1998. The radio operators are the state owned Syrian Arab Republic Radio and Al-Madina FM, the first private radio station, launched in March 2005.[3] Other private radios are for example: Melody FM, Sham FM, Radio Arabesque, Mix FM Syria, Rotana FM, Fuse FM, Farah FM). Private radio stations can also transmit news or political content.
Opposition satellite stations broadcast from abroad; they include London-based
Internet
Country code: The top level domain for Syria is .sy.
There were 8,500,000 Internet users in Syria as of March 2021 for a 46.5% Internet penetration rate.[5] Syria ranks 13th out of 14 countries in the Middle East region, just behind Iraq (59.6%) and ahead of Yemen (25.9%). The growth of Internet users has been rapid since 2016: [6] [2]
Year Internet users % of population 2000 30,000 0.2% 2002 220,000 1.2% 2005 800,000 4.2% 2009 3,565,000 16.4% 2010 3,935,000 17.7% 2011 4,469,000 19.8% 2016 5,502,250 29.6% 2021 8,500,000 46.5%
The internet first appeared around 1998. 35 organs of the Syrian government by July 1998 were connected to the internet.[7]
There were 420 Syrian Internet hosts in 2010, placing Syria 187th out of 231 in the world.[4]
With a measured download speed that averages 768 kbit/s, the speed of the Internet in Syria is relatively slow compared to the worldwide average of 4.6 Mbit/s.[as of?][8][9]
ADSL service in Syria has been available since 2003.[10] However, ADSL is not available in all locations and, where available, the local telco may not have enough ports for immediate activation. Through 2009 broadband Internet access had reached less than 0.2% of the Syrian population.[11][12]
High-speed Internet is also available through many
Internet service providers (ISPs)
- View ISP
- INET
- Nas
- Omniya
- Runnet
- ZAD
- Lema
- Waves
- ProNet
- Takamol
- SCS-Net
Internet censorship
This section needs to be updated.(September 2022) |
Internet filtering in Syria was found to be pervasive in the political and Internet tools areas, and selective in the social and conflict/security areas by the OpenNet Initiative in August 2009.[13] Syria has been on Reporters Without Borders Enemy-of-the-Internet list since 2006 when the list was established.[14] In 2009, the Committee to Protect Journalists named Syria number three in a list of the ten worst countries in which to be a blogger, given the arrests, harassment, and restrictions which online writers in Syria have faced.[15]
Syria has banned websites for political reasons and arrested people accessing them. In addition to filtering a wide range of Web content, the Syrian government monitors Internet use very closely and has detained citizens "for expressing their opinions or reporting information online." Vague and broadly worded laws invite government abuse and have prompted Internet users to engage in self-censoring and self-monitoring to avoid the state's ambiguous grounds for arrest.[13][16]
In February 2011 Syria stopped filtering YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter.[17]
Shutdown of Syrian Internet
In 2012, it was reported that all Internet connectivity between Syria and the outside world appeared to have ceased, as of 29 November 2012. This coincided with reported intense rebel activity inside Syria. However, according to an August 2014 interview with
References
- ^ "وزارة الاتصالات والتقانة". Archived from the original on 20 August 2013. Retrieved 15 August 2013.
- ^ a b "Internet Usage and Marketing Report: Syria", Internet World Stats, 2010
- ^ a b c d "BBC Syria country profile", BBC News, 7 August 2012
- ^ a b c d "CIA World Factbook: Syria", U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, 24 August 2012
- ^ "Internet Usage in the Middle East", Internet World Stats, 31 March 2021
- ^ "Internet Usage in the Middle East", Internet World Stats, 31 March 2021
- ^ "Net Arrives in Syria (Slowly)". CBS News. 10 July 1998. Archived from the original on 13 July 1998. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
- ^ Measured between January and June 2011, "Global Download Report" Archived 24 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Pando Networks, 22 September 2011
- ^ "Global Download Study", ChartsBin.com. Retrieved 23 September 2011
- ^ "Broadband internet comes to Syria", Syria News Wire, 16 January 2007
- ^ "Worksheet 3: Broadband", Richard Heeks, Google Docs, 16 September 2010
- ^ "Global ICT Statistics on Internet Usage, Mobile, Broadband: 1998-2009", Richard Heeks, ICT4DBlog, 16 September 2010
- ^ a b "ONI Country Profile: Syria", OpenNet Initiative, August 2009
- ^ "Internet Enemies: Syria" Archived 18 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Reporters Without Borders, March 2011
- ^ "10 Worst Countries to be a Blogger", Committee to Protect Journalists, 30 April 2009
- ^ "Syrian jailed for internet usage". BBC News. 21 June 2004.
- ^ "الغاء الحجب عن موقع "فيسبوك" في سورية (Syrian government abolishes bans on "Facebook" and "YouTube")" (in Arabic). D Press News. 8 February 2011. Archived from the original on 20 February 2019. Retrieved 23 September 2011. (English translation)
- ^ "Measuring Global Internet Filtering", Robert Faris and Nart Villeneuve, in Access denied: the practice and policy of global Internet filtering, Ronald Deibert (ed), OpenNet Initiative, 2008
- ^ Institute for War and Peace Reporting (3 June 2008). "Syrian youth break through internet blocks". Retrieved 1 February 2010.
- ^ "Syria tightens control over internet", Phil Sands, The National (Abu Dhabi), 30 September 2008
- ^ Thomson, Iain (29 November 2012). "Syria cuts off internet and mobile communications". The Register. Retrieved 29 November 2012.
- ^ "Internet Blackout in Syria as Airport Shuts Down", Alexander Marquardt, ABC News, 30 November 2012.
- ^ Bamford, James (14 August 2014). "Edward Snowden: The Untold Story". Wired. Retrieved 16 August 2014.