U.S. Report on Internet: Algeria, the World Most Underdeveloped Country in this Area

Authorities of regulating the wired and wireless telecommunications decide to stifle the telecommunications sector, whether it comes to the operators of the ​​mobile services, or companies of providing services for normal web or over the Internet Protocol, creating “a comprehensive tension” in the Algerian sector of communication technologies‭.

Over 95 Algerian companies for providing Internet Services said the authority of regulating post, wired and wireless telecommunications is responsible for breaking the sector, and destroying the competition in the market of Internet services, because of the severe restrictions that are applied on their activity, and due to the continued monopoly of the company “Algeria Telecom” (Algeria communications) to the port of arrival to the global ‭network‭.

Instead of facilitating the conditions for the development of the technology communication sector, in order to save Algeria from the technological backwardness, this authority continues to create secondary problems, such as cracking down on the offers for progress, under the pretext of ending the chaos in the internet market.

According to the head of the regulatory authority, the services has been able to reduce the number of offers from 99 in 2008 to 27 in 2011, in order to restore the exceptional nature of the clavicular presentations, asserting that they it will continue to do serves as the Competition Council in controlling the telecommunications market under the pretext of the government’s decision to continue the compilation of the Competition Council since 1995‬.

An expert in communication technologies, Younes Gharrar, told Echorouk that the number of companies operating in the provision of Internet services, voice and video over IP, down from 100 companies since three years ago to 5 companies only, because of the vague restrictions that are exerted on this activity in Algeria, adding that the foreign experts in the field of new information technologies were unable to explain the reasons and motives behind the destroying the communication technology sector, while it could be the first operator and producer of the added-value in any country.

The government’s decision asked for the opening of a thorough investigation to determine the reasons for the high prices of Internet in Algeria, and the reasons for the failure of democratization of the modern technologies of information and communication in Algeria after 7 years of criticism launched by President Bouteflika in 2005 during his participation at the World Summit on information that was held in Tunisia, where he promised the access of 6 million families to the computers, linked to Internet connection with high-flow by 2010, wandering why did the companies that provide Internet connection in the world continue to gain profits, while Algerie Telecom continues in achieving losses in spite of the monopoly it enjoyed‭. ‬

“A survey conducted by an American comapny “INDEX Net”, on the speed of Internet flow in 175 countries around the world, which ensured a daily internet speed, between 24 January and 21 June 2012, shows that Algeria is the most underdeveloped countires in the world in the speed of the internet, as it ranked 174 within the global classification, along with ‭Côte d’Ivoire, ‭which reveals that Algeria suffered underdevelopment in the field of modern technologies, Media and communication‭”, he added. ‬