The National Telecom Regularity Authority (NTRA) Tuesday called on internet service companies to review the quality of their services and to improve their efficiency over the short and long term, and to set fair internet prices. The NTRA has observed an increase in complaints of poor internet service through its hotline or on social networks, according to a statement. An initiative called "The Internet Revolution", started on 7 December, aims to increase speeds, reduce price of internet access, restructure communication centers all over Egypt, and do away with the Fair Usage Policy. The policy, applied by Internet Service Providers, counts internet usage so that when users reach a certain limit, speed slows down until the end of the internet subscription. More than 245,000 Facebook users liked the initiative's official page. On Monday, more than 24,000 people joined a Facebook event affiliated with the initiative. If "The Internet Revolution" demands are not met, the group has threatened to take escalating action. The aim of the NTRA is to offer high speed internet service with feasible prices, Hisham El-Alayli, CEO of NTRA, said in the statement. "As for the short term, internet firms can propose an alternative to ADSL internet service," El-Alayli said, adding that the government-sponsored high-speed internet initiative goes into effect, as for the medium and long terms. El-Alayli said developing the infrastructure of the communication sector will positively affect the internet services in terms of quality and prices. NTRA has purchased devices to measure internet service efficiency, the statement mentioned. "After importing the devices, NTRA will issue official reports on the level of internet services," according to the statement.
