Aleppo – Muhammad al-Ali
Several neighborhoods and areas in the city of Aleppo are suffering from a complete lack of internet and landline services due to the theft of cables by unknown individuals, coupled with the lack of initiative from the Telecommunications Directorate to extend new lines.
The internet has been disconnected in the Bustan al-Qasr neighborhood for about a month and a half, with no clear timeline for repairs. The same applies to other neighborhoods such as Suleiman al-Halabi, parts of al-Jamiliah, al-Maysar, Karam al-Qaterji, al-Kalasa, Tishreen Street, al-Nayrab camp, the industrial area of al-Irqoub, and the 3000 Apartments project in the al-Hamdaniya neighborhood.
Nail al-Haib, who owns a rubber profiles factory in the industrial area of al-Irqoub, stated that the main cable for the area was stolen. He filed a complaint five weeks ago, and the response at that time was that it would take only ten days, but the repair process has not occurred to this day.
Al-Haib added to Enab Baladi that he filed the complaint again, and the answer he received from the telecommunications institution was that the matter is “in progress,” but they need patience, according to their statement.
He noted that the internet outage affects factory owners in an industrial area like al-Irqoub, as they can no longer monitor their factories via mobile phones, since the cameras must be connected to a Wi-Fi network to broadcast live to the factory owner, and during this time, poor surveillance could affect the safety of industrial facilities in the area.
Waiting for a response
Noura Muhammad confirmed to Enab Baladi that the internet has been completely cut off from her neighborhood in the 3000 Apartments project in the al-Hamdaniya area for about a month. She indicated that the residents of the area had visited their local post office, and the response was that there is no specific date for repairs.
Muhammad stated that the residents of the neighborhood contacted the maintenance workshops working on the ground, and they received promises for repairs within two weeks, but these promises have not been translated into action, and the area remains without internet, amid poor internet services via mobile data, due to weak network coverage and the high cost of packages.
Abdullah Ashour resides in the Karam al-Qaterji neighborhood, and the landline internet has been cut off from his area since the beginning of December 2024.
Ashour told Enab Baladi that the residents consulted the Sanaa Muhaydaly post office, which is responsible for the area, and they were promised by those in charge that a new cable would be brought to replace the stolen one. However, six weeks have passed without the task being completed.
On the other hand, Nihal Assaf, a resident of the al-Khalidiya neighborhood, stated that the internet cable was stolen in her area, leading to a complete cut-off. This has significantly impacted her work in electronic marketing, and she nearly lost her only source of income because of it.
She explained that residents visited the al-Shahba exchange that serves their area, and they received promises of restoration as quickly as possible. Maintenance crews completed the installation of a new cable within 15 days of the outage, and the internet returned to normal in the area.
Enab Baladi attempted to contact the Aleppo branch of the Syrian Telecommunications Company to inquire about the reasons for the delay in repairs, the lack of new cable installations to replace the stolen ones, and the mechanisms in place to protect cables from theft. However, they did not receive a response by the time this report was published.