CAIRO: Minister of Communication and Information Technology Tarek Kamel reversed Thursday a decision to limit internet downloads for DSL and ADSL subscribers.
The minister said that restriction – labeled the fair access policy (FAP) – will only be applied on news subscribers for a two-month trial period, and will not have retroactive effects on current subscribers.
The decision comes after a campaign, led by internet users and cyber cafés owners, rallied online support and organized street protests against the FAP.
Campaigners and protestors said the restriction violated subscribers’ agreements with their Internet Service Provider (ISP), stipulating unlimited download. They said it limited their freedom to use the internet, cost some their jobs and incurred financial losses on current subscribers.
The FAP would have seen ISPs allocate a download quota based on subscribers’ bandwidth speed: 25 GB for 512 KB/sec, 40 GB for 1 MB/sec, 60 GB for 2 MB/sec and 80 GB for 4 MB/sec.
Once the subscriber exceeds the determined quota, their bandwidth would then be lowered to 128 KB/sec unless they pay extra to expand their download capacity.
The new policy was adopted by the National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA) to “protect subscribers from the abuse of some users which leads to congestions and the deterioration of the service.
Amr Badawy, chairman of NTRA, said that FAP is applied in many countries around the world and that they considered the average usage of Egyptian subscribers -100 MB per day – when they put the download limits.
“We will monitor those who resell the service through illegal cables in which a lot of users share the same line reducing the download speed and weakening the service, Badawy told MENA.
“For a 1 MB/sec subscriber, 40 GB enables them to download more than 7,000 audio files and 40 movies beside regular browsing and software updates, he added.
The decision was not welcomed by internet users. Numerous Facebook groups were launched to oppose it, attracting thousands of members in a short time.
“The new policy violates the signed contracts between subscribers and ISPs for unlimited internet subscriptions. Also, it isn’t in accordance with the general policy of the government that encourages the spread of internet usage, read a statement issued by The Public Campaign Against Limiting Download in Egypt group.
Organizers and members of similar groups last week protested in front of internet companies’ branches and were planning a mass demonstration in front of the ministry the following week.
“Instead of enhancing the service and developing the servers which will cost a lot of money, internet companies chose to limit usage so that costs remain the same while revenues increase, Mohamed Ramadan, creator of a Facebook group that attracted more than 23,000 members, told Daily News Egypt.
According to Ramadan, regular internet browsing for 60 minutes consumes 180 MB. Adding watching videos and using flash applications, the assigned 25 GB will run out in 10 days approximately, he said.
“A 4 MB/sec subscription means that one can download with a rate of 512 KB/sec with a rate of 30 MB per minute; so, assuming that I will use the service 24 hours a day, I will have consumed my download limit in two days only, Ramadan said.
However, students enrolled in online programs, users subscribed to online TV, technicians working in foreign-based servers’ support and cyber café owners would have been badly hit by the policy.
“What can I do with 60 GB, I can never tell customers don’t download anything or don’t open these applications, said an owner of a cyber café who identified himself as Gaby Kababa.
“They should have offered unlimited capacity for a higher price better than closing my business completely, he added.
“My job is to design websites, download and upload server backups; my average download per month is 150 GB and my bandwidth is 2 MB/sec, this policy would mean that I will lose my job, Amir, support technician for a foreign-based server, said.
“A lot of people work in online forums and websites, now they will become jobless; [ISPs] ask for money for extra download capacity which means that congestion wasn’t the problem, he added.
Under the reversed decision, internet service providers had offered an unlimited download subscription for LE 2,000 per month.
“Online and distant learners have to attend at least two lectures everyday, because if they don’t they will be considered absent. Each lecture is more than a one hour video; so what if the download capacity ends and I still have lectures to attend? said Islam Amer, a student in a masters’ program by correspondence with a US university.
“It is very unfair to pay for a service and not receive it, said Alaa El-Tayeb, a programmer.
“I am a network administrator and I’ll be taking a graphics scholarship soon. This requires a lot of online resources and programs with a minimum size of 2 GB and sometimes 6 GB, which will consumes all my download capacity without any personal usage, he added.
FAP, also referred to as bandwidth cap, dates back to 1990. At the time, many European internet providers applied it when a channel intended to be shared by many users became overloaded.
However, the download limit ranged between 250 and 300 GB.
Ahmed Sabry, head of the internet department at the chamber of information technology industry, hailed the bandwidth cap when it was announced, saying internet providers can’t ignore it.
“The current internet consumption is weak as it is mainly dedicated to movies and video game downloads without any consideration of other users’ rights or the welfare of the user or the country, Sabry told Daily News Egypt.
“The download limit is huge, the equivalent of 40 DVDs, and appropriate for most users; any consumers who exceeds this limit, please tell us what you have done with it, said Sabry, who is also a manager at IT Vision, a website developing company.
Although his company runs more than 500 websites, its scale of download does not exceed 40 GB, he added.
“Those who use the internet as a profitable business lie under the commercial usage category and they have to pay for the service so that they don’t affect regular users, Sabry said.
According to Sabry, only a small fraction of users would have been affected negatively by the FAP.
“Some people use the internet to make deals worth millions of pounds or violate intellectual [property] rights and these have to pay for their usage, he added.
Two months ago, ISPs doubled the bandwidth speed for subscribers for free with the help of government financial support, according to Sabry.
Ahmed Ekram, who was opposed the FAP, said that justifying the new policy by citing illegal cables and cyber cafés is baseless because such usage only affects this subscriber, not the whole service.
“Even if what they say is true, they should have applied the new policy on cyber cafés not all subscribers, Ekram said.
“I wouldn’t mind if they apply this policy, but with a fair download capacity. And also if they reduce the bandwidth speed to half, not to 128 KB/sec, said Ahmed Koraiem, a student.
Koraiem, whose highest download record was 87 GB, said that the fair capacity should be 100 GB, “which no regular user will exceed.
Some users had threatened to cancel their subscriptions and resort to satellite internet.
To that, Sabry said they do not know the value of Egyptian companies who provide the lowest rates in the Middle East and Africa.
“The receiving decoder costs more than LE 15,000 while the monthly subscription isn’t less than LE 4,000, he said.
