Telecoms & IT

Syria and Pakistan decided to look into the possibilities of undertaking joint collaboration programmes in the higher education, IT and telecommunication sectors.

Syria's and Egypt's communication authorities have signed a cooperation agreement.

The European Union has provided a new EUR10 million grant to Syria for the modernisation and support of the telecommunication sector.

With its former head now a President of the Republic and four of its other members government ministers, the Syrian Computer Society (SCS) can boast of a membership few other organisations in the world can compete with.

The first details on the requirements set by the Syrian Telecommunication Establishment (STE) to license ISP operators and Internet cafes have been revealed.

According to the United Nations Development Program, Syria's Civil Registration Centre will be wholly computerized by the end of this year.

Revenues generated from the GSM market are expected to reach as much as USD430 million by the end of next year and USD1 billion in 2006.

Access to the world wide web in Syria will soon be free of installation and subscription charges, said Mohammad al Munjid, communication minister.

With only 0.3% of its population wired to the net, Syria lags far behind all its Arab neighbours. The number of Syrian web sites is still very low, not numbering more than three hundred, the country has no real web portal to speak of and until last December, no e-commerce site.

Syria's Minister of telecommunications said that within two weeks, 20,000 new internet lines will be open for subscription, with the 200,000 additional lines confirmed as end of the year target.

Syria's two mobile phone operators indicated that they have stopped selling new lines pending the development of their network coverage across the country.

To spread Internet usage, the Syrian government is expected to finalise the establishment of its digital telecom infrastructure in August.

A mere 0.3 percent of Syria's population is connected to the World Wide Web, to compare with a 4.5% rate in Jordan, 8% in Lebanon and 24% in the Gulf area.

Formal agreements to transfer technology know-how and training by Dubai Internet City (DIC) to IT-related initiatives in Syria and Jordan are being planned, according to a top DIC official.

The Syrian telecommunication establishment (STE) expects its total turnover to reach SYP22.7 billion (USD 454 million) in 2002.

Mohammad Maarouf, the head of the Syrian Telecommunications Establishment said that over 200,000 additional subscribers should be connected by next year, reported Al-Quds.

Spacetel Syria, the GSM 900 network operator in Syria, has announced the launch of International Roaming Service starting from October 4th, 2001.