October 1999

Syria Update Memo

The following report outlines new developments in the past three months and the state of on-going developments.

In Syria during the previous quarter (July-October 1999), there have been changes within the infrastructure of the telecommunications and Information Society sector e.g. pilot projects for GSM and paging services, expansion of Internet connections. These changes reflect further liberalisation of the telecommunications and Information Society sector by the Syrian government.

There have also been some changes within the government's policy on telecommunications and in the legislative framework. For example, the government has decided to increase the number of ISPs by issuing more licenses within Syria.

The developments that have taken place in Syria during the quarter July-October 1999 are listed below.

1. Regulatory Framework

1.1 Licensing

Three companies are currently working on implementing a pilot project for GSM in Syria. During the first stage, the Syrian Telecommunications Establishment (STE) ( http://www.syriatel.net/index.html ) will most likely license GSM operations to these companies on a revenue sharing basis.

1.2 Universal service

International IP connections and Internet services have been extended by the STE to the private and public business sectors, but not to individuals. STE will continue its control on the Internet in Syria by building and controlling the national backbone of the network. The Internet SY domain was fixed during September 1999.

A pilot Paging project was put into service in the Damascus region during the month of July 1999 by the STE. Given the small number of lines (5000), it is currently limited to institutions and personnel that are in the emergency services (e.g. hospitals, doctors, etc.) and therefore have a greater need for the paging service than others. During 2000, the project is expected to be extended to cover the entire country.

1.3 Tariffs policies

Tariffs for the pilot paging system have been set at approximately 55 Euro for installation (a one-off fixed fee), and an annual subscription fee of 27 Euro.

1.4 Quality of service

Some improvement has been noticed in the quality of the Internet service, with an increase in the capacity of the international leased line to 512 kbps. However, the time taken to download information is continuing to make the service unreliable.

1.5 Interconnection

In September 1999 a 512 kbps link to Canada was put into service. This constitutes the new Internet connection to the international community.

The frame relay ATM X25 Network project proposal is in the evaluation phase. This Network will cover the whole of Syria and will be used by data communication services.

A call for tenders has been launched to provide an Internet backbone for the country as well as the necessary equipment to allow STE to become the main ISP in Syria serving the entire public sector.

2. Information Society Policies

Research and education

The number of computers acquired for the teaching of computer courses at the universities has increased to reach more than 1300 PCs.

3. Telecommunication liberalisation

A decision has been taken by the Prime Minister, Mahmoud Zuabi, to allow private ISPs to be licensed by STE for providing Internet services. It will allow private ISP's to start their services once the backbone is in place. This should be completed within 8 months.

In August 1999 STE began a campaign of cutting telephone lines that were being illegally used to make international telephone connections with Lebanon in order to access the Internet through Lebanese ISPs. The subscribers subsequently were made to pay fines to have the lines restored.

4. Media and telecommunication markets: privatisations, foreign investments, mergers and acquisitions

Three international companies, Siemens, Ericsson and Invest Com, are (independently) constructing the first (pilot) GSM project in Syria. It is expected to be functional in early 2000 and will be operated by these companies in the future until STE decides on the status of these GSM stations and how to expand the network.