COMMUNICATION-SYRIA: Slowly, People Gaining Access to Internet

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Kim Ghattas

DAMASCUS, Nov 8 2000 (IPS) - Only sixth months ago, the e-mail address on a well-known Syrian economist’s business card had the domain name cyberia.net.lb. ‘Lb’ is for Lebanon, because Internet access through that neighbouring country was the only link between Syrians and the World Wide Web.

Now, the economist’s latest business card boasts net.sy, a sign that Syria has caught up with the rest of the technology world, to some extent.

Over the past year, the Internet has been very gradually introduced into Syria through a pilot project, thanks to the drive of President Bashar el Assad.

During the days of his late father, the young Assad was president of the Syrian Computer Society (SCS) and since then he has been perceived as a modern young man who if he became president would open and modernise his country’s economy.

Five months into his presidency, very little has changed yet although there are signs that Assad is indeed a moderniser. But the Internet pilot project, which now serves 7,000 subscribers, has yet to become fully implemented.

In a country where access to information has been scrupulously controlled during the 30-year long iron-fisted rule of Hafez el Assad, introducing the Internet was a giant leap forward away from state controlled media.

But Internet use is still monitored and access to pornographic or Israel-related sites is banned. Syria and Israel have been at war since 1967.

The official introduction of the Internet by the Syrian government had also become inevitable with up to 30,000 Syrians connecting to the Internet through Lebanese servers – despite the risk that they would be fined 70,000 Syrian pounds (1,500 U.S. dollars) if caught.

It took three years to slowly convince the people in power to accept the Internet’s introduction into Syria.

Dr Bashar wanted it to happen by conviction and not submission, explains Dr Sami el Khiami, owner of a software house and a consultant in information technologies.

Assad’s aim and that of the Syrian Computer Society is to bring the Internet to everybody and to make information accessible to all.

But in a country with an ailing Soviet-style economy, 20 percent unemployment, almost no private sector and just fewer than 50 percent of the population under 15 years of age, Internet is the last concern of ordinary Syrians.

For Ahmad, who owns a souvenir shop with his father in the old Hamidiyyeh souq, the Internet is something he has heard of but has never really given much thought to.

“I have other worries, making a living. I m not quite sure how this will improve my business or my life really,” he says.

For the moment, Syria’s 7,000 Internet subscribers are government officials, universities or big companies. For others, subscription fees are still too expensive.

After an initial 5,000 Syrian pound (100 dollars) set-up fee, the monthly subscription cost is 1,000 SP (21 dollars), plus one SP per minute of connection. It is also still impossible for individuals to get a subscription.

For those who can afford to pay for phone calls to Lebanon, the way around this is through Lebanese Internet Service Providers (ISP), most of whom offer unlimited access for 12 dollars a month.

For others who have discovered the joys or utility of the Internet, a couple of Internet rooms, offering Internet access to the public, haveopened over the past months

They are still mostly visited by tourists or foreigners living in Syria who wish to send news home, but slowly, Syrians are joining the crowd, mainly to look into opportunities to study and work outside their country.

Nicholas Azar, a young doctor has been going to one of those Internet rooms, opened by Syria’s public Internet service provider, to send his application to universities in the United States for his medical specialisation.

“The first time I used a computer was two months ago, when I had to start with my applications. I learnt it all by myself, and also how to use the Internet. All that with my limited knowledge of technical English words,” he says.

Azar feels that his country is lagging behind the rest of the world on all levels and is eager to leave, like so many of his friends. The drive to computerise the country is not serious enough for him because it is too slow and does not have the right priorities, he says.

“Yes I know this is just the beginning, but other countries are way ahead, we can’t afford to waste time in the slow introduction of the Internet to the country,” he adds. “They’re (government) already holding conferences on e-commerce and there are, what, 10 computers linked to the Internet?” Azar says with obvious frustration.

But for Dr Khiami, there is no time to waste to get on the e- commerce highway as many businesses already have access to the web. “We should not go down to the level of people, but bring the people to our level,” he says.

One aspect that certainly needs to be brought to level and that has been a major impediment in the spread of the Internet is the poor standards of the English language.

For the sake of Arab nationalism, western languages were barely taught in schools during Assad’s reign and while there is some progress made today, there is still a long way to go.

Syria still has a long way to go in many areas: economy, social, health, education, but little concrete plans are known for the moment about how the government intends to tackle all these problems.

But with the Internet, the grand plan is there. By March 2001, Syria will have the capacity to hook up 100,000 Internet subscribers, or 0.6 per cent of the its population.