Recent Poor Internet Service Leaves Syrians Disgruntled

Many Syrians complained in recent days of a drop in internet speed. (Getty Images)
Many Syrians complained in recent days of a drop in internet speed. (Getty Images)
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Recent Poor Internet Service Leaves Syrians Disgruntled

Many Syrians complained in recent days of a drop in internet speed. (Getty Images)
Many Syrians complained in recent days of a drop in internet speed. (Getty Images)

A sharp decline in internet speed in Syria has caused much resentment in regime-held areas, especially since the majority of Syrians rely on the internet to communicate with their children and families in asylum countries.

The internet speed had fallen by more than 90 percent.

A resident from the capital said he noticed the deterioration of the internet four days ago, during his call with his refugee son in Europe, after the call was interrupted more than 10 times.

He first thought that the problem was in the router, but a technician told him that the country is affected by slow speeds.

"We are used to slow internet, but this time it is slower than ever. The problem is that all the router signals are high and do not indicate any interruption or slowness."

Hawa Al Sham Weather Station cited sources in the Regime’s Ministry of Communication saying: "The low quality of the internet is due to the disruption of one of the international submarine cables between Cyprus and Marseille."

Other media sources said however the submarine cable coming from Egypt had been damaged and led to poor internet in Syria, adding that efforts to fix the malfunction were hampered by a storm.

Other sources suggested that the internet speed was weakened due to repairs of cables in different parts of the country, which coincided with a storm.

The decline in the internet quality took place simultaneously with a low-pressure area, accompanied by heavy rain and strong winds that began on Thursday night, and lasted for two days. The weather improved on Saturday.



Taipei Zoo's Veteran Giant Panda Celebrates 20th Birthday

Panda Yuanyuan enjoys her birthday cake for her 20th birthday at the Taipei Zoo in Taipei, Taiwan, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
Panda Yuanyuan enjoys her birthday cake for her 20th birthday at the Taipei Zoo in Taipei, Taiwan, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
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Taipei Zoo's Veteran Giant Panda Celebrates 20th Birthday

Panda Yuanyuan enjoys her birthday cake for her 20th birthday at the Taipei Zoo in Taipei, Taiwan, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
Panda Yuanyuan enjoys her birthday cake for her 20th birthday at the Taipei Zoo in Taipei, Taiwan, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

With politics set aside, well-wishers gathered to wish the Taipei zoo’s senior panda a happy 20th birthday.
Visitors crowded around Yuanyuan's enclosure to take photos of her with a birthday cake in the shape of the number 20.
Yuanyuan was born in China and arrived in 2008 with her partner Tuantuan. He died in 2022 at age 18 but not before fathering two female cubs, Yuanzai and Yuanbao, now 11 and 4 respectively and still living at the zoo.
Danielle Shu, a 20-year-old Brazilian student in Taiwan, said she found online clips of the pandas an enjoyable distraction. “And I just find it really funny and cute,” The Associated Press quoted Shu as saying.
Giant pandas are native only to China, and Beijing bestows them as a sign of political amity. Yuanyuan and Tuantuan arrived in Taiwan during a period of relative calm between the sides, which split amid civil war in 1949. China claims the island its own territory, to be annexed by military force if necessary.
Faced with declining habitat and a notoriously low birthrate, giant panda populations have declined to around 1,900 in the mountains of western China, while 600 pandas live in zoos and breeding centers in China and around the world.