« Home | Iraq's President offers kind words for Syria, defi... » | Egypt's human rights record - better than Syria? » | Iraq's President visits Damascus » | Visiting Syria » | US Defence Secretary: no attack on Syria » | Russia demands to know the 10 countries blocking t... » | US: no attack on Syria » | Bush threatens Syria - but is he threatening to at... » | Syrian singers win international music award » | Syrian Women » 

Tuesday, January 16, 2007 

Broadband internet comes to Syria

An affordable broadband (ADSL) internet service seems to be around the corner.

There are rumours in Damascus that a new service is about to be launched. It's likely to be around SP1000 (US$20) for a 256kbps line. That's not an amazing speed but it is a good start, for a good price.

Until now, broadband has been too expensive for most people to afford.

Similar rumours swept Syria in the days before pre-pay mobile phone lines were launched in June 2003. Over the next few months, the phone companies kept reducing the prices, until it reached the $10 fee it is at now (that's cheaper than most European countries!).

So, expect to see prices for broadband falling - or, more likely - speeds increasing over the coming months.

Thanks Hasan

Hi,

sorry for commenting such an old post.. but i am interested in how is the internet-connection situation at the moment in damascus or latakia? is there dsl / broadband now? and how much does it cost and which company offers it? a lot of questions.. sorry ;)

Chris

Hi Chris,

Nor problem. Yes, there is up to 2MB broadband in Damascus (not sure about Latakia).

There are a couple of state and private companies. The private ones have fewer restrictions on what sites you can access, but it's harder to get a line.

Alternatively you can buy pre-paid dial-up internet cards in many shops, and then simply plug your computer into the phone line and you're connected (no registration needed).

Almost all internet cafes have private broadband lines.

And - there is also wireless 3G mobile broadband, which is very fast, and offered by SyriaTel and MTN.

I hope that helps. Feel free to ask more.

Post a Comment

About me

  • Written by sasa
  • From Damascus, Syria
  • From Damascus to London via Beirut. Based in and out of the central Damascene hamlet of Saroujah. News and feelings from the streets every day. I'm talking rubbish? Leave a comment. Welcome to the information democracy. See below for info about this site.
My profile

Syria News Wire discussion

Syria News Wire - the most comprehensive source of Syrian news on the web

  • The Syria News Wire now provides news for Cafe-Syria. To find out how to get exclusive Syrian news for your site, click here.

Get Syria News Wire EMAIL UPDATES

  • the important stuff: you can cancel any time, your email address wont be used for anything except Syria News Wire updates - this is an ad-free site
  • Enter your email address below to subscribe to The Syria News Wire...