How Syria got mobile: from the 1999 trial to the 2026 licence award
22 July 2026
Syria had no cellular telephony until 1999, when the communications ministry permitted the Syrian Telecommunications Establishment to begin a trial GSM service in Damascus, Aleppo and Latakia. The pilot went live in February 2000.
Two operators were then selected to run the networks. Syriatel emerged as a joint venture between local investors and Egypt's Orascom Telecom. The second, Areeba Syria, previously Spacetel, was founded in 2000 as an Investcom Group subsidiary and launched service in March 2001 on its '94' network. Both received licences in 2001. Areeba later passed to South Africa's MTN Group, which became majority shareholder and announced its exit from Syria in 2020.
A long awaited third licence went to Wafa Telecom in February 2022. In July 2026 Zain Group won a 25-year licence with a bid of USD 747 million, taking over from MTN, with commercial launch targeted for early 2027.
The pattern across those twenty five years is worth noting: each licence round has been followed by a build cycle, and each build cycle has meant equipment, civil works and site power procured on the ground.
Ramico has worked alongside that build since the early network expansions. To discuss the current cycle, get in touch.
