TELECOM · SEGMENT

Mobile

Everything Umran tracks on mobile: the measures, the projects, who is building, what is missing, and what has happened.

Telecom Index 4 sourced indicators of 15

Indicators

IndicatorsValueConfidenceSources
Mobile subscribers
How is this calculated?

No data

Subscriber base on the MTN Syria network being transferred to Zain Syria. Baseline at Dec 2024 and a target still need sourcing.

Sources

SANA / Zain Group · 30 June 2026

Confidence: Official · Last updated: 11 August 2026

Methodology & sources

6.3million subscribersOfficialSANA / Zain Group
Mobile population coverage
How is this calculated?

No data

The target is sourced and the current value is not, which is why the record reads pending: the tier describes the figure that renders, and that figure is the current one. The 98% target is a licence obligation on Zain Syria for its initial rollout, stated by the regulator and recorded in licences.json — it is not an Umran assumption. Nobody publishes actual coverage, so there is nothing to measure the obligation against.

Sources

No data

Confidence: Not available

Methodology & sources

No dataNot availableNo data
National network availability
How is this calculated?

No data

IODA, measurable from outside Syria with no operator cooperation. Not seed data, though: this is an API returning a series that changes daily, so a number pasted in today is stale next week — the opposite of what an independent-tier indicator is for. It needs a scheduled fetch writing into this record's series array, which is a build task requiring network access, not a research task. Until that exists this row stays empty, and the gauge gate cannot open.

Sources

No data

Confidence: Not available

Methodology & sources

No dataNot availableNo data
National outage minutes
How is this calculated?

No data

IODA and Cloudflare Radar, and pairing it against the grid hours already in the Recovery Index is the original observation nobody else publishes about Syria. Same constraint as network availability: an API series, not a document, so it needs a scheduled fetch rather than a research pass. This is the single highest-value row on the vertical and the one that cannot be filled by reading anything.

Sources

No data

Confidence: Not available

Methodology & sources

No dataNot availableNo data
Licensed mobile operators
How is this calculated?

No data

Two licensed, one operating: Syriatel operates, Zain Syria is licensed but has not launched, and MTN Syria's licence is being replaced. A count of licences is a weak proxy for contestability — replace with a market-share or tariff-dispersion measure when one is sourceable.

Sources

SANA — Syrian Telecommunications and Post Regulatory Authority · 5 July 2026

Confidence: Official · Last updated: 11 August 2026

Methodology & sources

2operatorsOfficialSANA — Syrian Telecommunications and Post Regulatory Authority
Price per GB
How is this calculated?

No data

Operator tariff sheets are the source. Publish against the minimum expenditure basket already in cost-of-living.json rather than as a bare dollar figure — the number only means something next to a wage.

Sources

No data

Confidence: Not available

Methodology & sources

No dataNot availableNo data

Projects

Who is involved

Gaps

01

No published coverage measurement

Critical mobile

Current state

Nobody publishes mobile or broadband coverage for Syria: not the ministry, not the regulator, not the operators. Targets are announced — 98% in Zain's licence, 85% of households for Barq Net — with no baseline figure to measure them against.

Why it matters

A commitment with no baseline cannot be missed. This gap neutralises every coverage commitment in the ledger, and holds the index gate closed until independent measurement opens it.

Indicators: Mobile population coverage FTTH connections

Sources

Method

This gap asserts an absence, which is verified by the indicator table rather than by a document: the coverage rows carry no source because no source was found. If one surfaces, this gap closes and the row fills.

Sources

Umran — absence of a published series · 11 August 2026

Confidence: Official · Last updated: 11 August 2026

Methodology & sources

05

A market with one operating carrier

Moderate mobile

Current state

Two licensed, one operating: Syriatel operates, Zain Syria is licensed but not launching before Q1 2027, and MTN Syria's licence is being replaced under a six-month transition.

Why it matters

Between now and Zain's launch there is a period of reduced competitive pressure on tariffs and coverage — the same period in which the network is supposed to be built. Counting licences does not measure competition; market share or tariff dispersion would, and neither is published.

Indicators: Licensed mobile operators Price per GB

Sources

Sources

SANA, quoting Syrian Telecommunications and Post Regulatory Authority director general Khaled al-Homsi · 5 July 2026

Confidence: Official · Last updated: 11 August 2026

Methodology & sources

06

No published price for data

Moderate mobile

Current state

No published figure for the price of a gigabyte or the average subscription bill, and no comparison of either against the minimum expenditure basket.

Why it matters

A network nobody can afford is covered on paper only. The expenditure basket is already in Umran's data; the tariff is the only missing half.

Indicators: Price per GB

Sources

Method

An asserted absence, verified by the indicator table rather than a document — the tariff row carries no source because none was found.

Sources

Umran — absence of a published series · 11 August 2026

Confidence: Official · Last updated: 11 August 2026

Methodology & sources

07

The network follows the grid

Moderate mobile

Current state

Umran publishes electricity hours and generation capacity in the Recovery Index; there is no published series for network outages or availability to set beside them.

Why it matters

A tower without power is a tower that is off, and network outages are measurable from outside via IODA and Cloudflare Radar. Setting the two side by side is an observation nobody publishes about Syria, and the shortest route to independent tier.

Indicators: National outage minutes National network availability

Sources

Sources

Umran — Recovery Index, infrastructure domain · 2 August 2026

Confidence: Official · Last updated: 11 August 2026

Methodology & sources

Developments

  1. Regulation

    Regulator: Zain to launch within six months

    Regulator director general Khaled al-Homsi sets out the licence terms and the transition window.

    Zain Syria network buildSyrian Telecommunications and Post Regulatory AuthorityZain Syria

    SANA, quoting Syrian Telecommunications and Post Regulatory Authority director general Khaled al-Homsi Sourced

  2. Regulation

    Zain awarded the national mobile licence

    A 20-year renewable licence for USD 747m, with investment of more than USD 800m over ten years and a six-month transition preserving service for 6.3 million subscribers.

    Zain Syria network buildZain SyriaZain GroupMTN SyriaSyrian Telecommunications and Post Regulatory Authority

    Zain Group press release Sourced

  3. Regulation

    International tender launched to replace the MTN licence

    Announced at MWC Barcelona, with completion scheduled for 15 June 2026.

    Zain Syria network buildMinistry of Communications and Information TechnologySyrian Telecommunications and Post Regulatory Authority

    SANA Sourced

  4. Operators

    MTN Group sells its remaining stake in MTN Syria

    The 75% stake passes to TeleInvest, part of Dallah Al-Baraka, ending the South African group's presence in the Syrian market.

    MTN Syria

    Trade press Reported

  5. Operators

    MTN Syria founded as Areeba

    The second operator enters the market as Areeba, later becoming MTN Syria.

    MTN Syria

    Trade press Reported

  6. Operators

    Syriatel founded

    One of Syria's two mobile operators is founded.

    Syriatel

    Trade press Reported

Sources on this page

  1. Umran — absence of a published series Official · 11 August 2026 · Last updated 11 August 2026
  2. Umran — Recovery Index, infrastructure domain Official · 2 August 2026 · Last updated 11 August 2026
  3. SANA — Syrian Telecommunications and Post Regulatory Authority Official · 5 July 2026 · Last updated 11 August 2026
  4. SANA / Zain Group Official · 30 June 2026 · Last updated 11 August 2026
  5. Trade press Reported · 30 June 2026 · Last updated 11 August 2026