ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Syria’s two telecommunication companies have significantly increased their prices, sparking public anger in a country where the United Nations estimates as much as 90 percent of the population is living in poverty.
Syriatel announced a change to their call and data bundles in a social media post on Thursday, calling it a “unification of bundles.”
It canceled popular daily bundles that used to cost 500 Syrian pounds ($0.04) and replaced them with a weekly bundle offering fewer services at a price of 12,000 pounds ($0.54). The cost of monthly internet has gone up to 180,000 Syrian Pounds ($16.30), which is equivalent to 20 percent of the income of the average government employee, according to ANHA news.