MAP > Internet Providers in Syria

The civil war in Syria has shown signs of stabilizing in the year 2018, and this has gone on to raise hopes that the infrastructure, as well as the economic reconstruction activities, can begin. This is very positive for the telecoms sector that has paid a very heavy toll from years of destruction. The telecommunications in Syria have gone on to become decentralized, and some of the remote areas usually rely heavily on the expensive satellite communications while urban areas tend to utilize highly regulated network that is supplied by government-owned Syrian Telecommunications Established. The initiatives have gone ahead and have been launched to liberalize market in the last few years but with no so much success.

Syria has quite high mobile penetration, and the many Syrians usually own some cheap or even second-hand smartphones. Various opportunities exist for the mobile broadband growth in the medium term, and the development of the Syria’s fixed broadband can gather some pace. The Syria’s mobile market has been served by the duopoly comprised of two main operators that are MTN Syria and Syriatel. The prepaid services have been very instrumental in being able to encourage the mobile to take up by the mass market. While the mobile broadband infrastructure population coverage that is based predominantly on the 3G has been quite high, a number of the actual mobile broadband subscriptions has been low providing the potential opportunities for development once the infrastructure as well as the economic reconstruction efforts making the headway.

While some parts of this nation have been affected seriously, there have been some reports that a population totaling to 13.5 million people seriously requires help and have been considered to be displaced from their original homes. The many years of the civil unrest in this country have taken a toll on Syria’s telecommunications systems, and while capital Damascus has been able to survive well, it is mainly the outskirt, remote areas as well as the rural areas that have gone on and felt the brunt of the destruction. International aid network, commonly known as Emergency Telecommunications Cluster has been in operation in Syria since the year 2013, and they offer emergency internet connectivity as well as the telecommunications services. Some of the companies that have been covered in this report majorly include Syrian Telecommunication Establishment (STE)Syriatel, and MTN Syria. There have been some signs of stabilization in this country that will benefit the telecoms sector heavily.