Syria has the most regulated telecoms sector in the Middle East and one of the least developed. This has resulted in a country where there is strong growth potential if the rules were to be relaxed. News reports of coming change continue but as yet nothing has happened.

Fixed-line services remain the monopoly of state-owned Syrian Telecommunications Establishment (STE). STE is investing in upgrading and extending its network and aims to gain 100% coverage by end-2013. Fixed-line subscriber numbers are still rising and although penetration rates are low, they are higher than in many more wealthy Middle Eastern countries.

STE is also investing in Syria’s very limited international infrastructure. Syria is linked to Cyprus by the UGARIT submarine cable, a 239km cable that began operating in 1995, with designed transmission capacity limited to 622Mb/s. STE and the Cypriot Communications Authority (CYTA) have agreed to expand the cable and increase Internet capacity and have also undertaken to establish a second undersea link. In addition, a land cable connecting Syria, Turkey, Jordan and Saudi Arabia is expected to come online in mid-2010.

Mobile penetration rates are relatively low – Syria is one of the few markets in the region with room for expansion. Two Build-Own-Transfer (BOT) operators, Syriatel and MTN Syria, provide mobile services. Syriatel is locally owned and MTN is a subsidiary of MTN of South Africa, which gained ownership through its purchase of Investcom. There have been continual reports that both Syriatel and MTN Syria will be sold, with Turkcell of Turkey and Zain of Kuwait cited as likely buyers, among others. Both operators would prefer to convert their BOT contracts into regular mobile operator licences not least because of the high royalties (50% of revenue) that they are required to pay to the Syrian government. A tender for a third mobile licence has been much talked about and would be very attractive to the regional major operators such as Zain or Qatar’s Qtel but it has yet to eventuate.

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