Access News 7 February 2025

Internet Access in Israel

In early 2024, 92.1% of Israelis—about 8.51 million people—were online, according to DataReportal. Israel has about 10.40 million mobile subscriptions, yielding 112.5% mobile penetration due to multi-SIM usage. Roughly 92.9% of Israelis live in urban areas, with 7.1% rural. Median speeds are high: fixed broadband 167.4 Mbps and mobile 40.2 Mbps (early 2024), and Speedtest ranked Israel around 16th worldwide for fixed broadband with a median of 226.6 Mbps in January 2025. Fiber deployment reached about 45% of homes by early 2024, up from about 35% in 2023, with Bezeq and Partner (Unlimited FTTH) as the main fiber players. HOT

10 July 2025

Everything You Need to Know About Internet Access in Bulgaria (Even the Satellites!)

By 2021, about 65% of fixed broadband subscribers in Bulgaria were on fiber, with gigabit speeds available and Vivacom launching a 10 Gbps fiber service. 5G was launched commercially in 2020, with A1 Bulgaria and Vivacom turning on 5G in 2020 and by the end of 2022 around 70% of the population expected to have 5G coverage. Starlink entered Bulgaria in February 2022, and as of 2025 Neterra is an authorized Starlink reseller offering hardware and support, with typical speeds over 100 Mbps down and 40–60 ms latency at around €60 per month plus a €300 equipment kit. Vivacom holds

2 June 2025

Access · Bulgaria · Digital Divide · Internet · Satellites

Brazil’s Digital Divide: The Real Story Behind Internet Access and the Race to Connect Everyone

As of 2023, about 88% of Brazilians aged 10 or older used the internet, equal to roughly 164 million people. In 2023, about 92.5% of Brazilian households had internet access. Regional disparities exist, with the Central-West around 91% online in 2023 while the North and Northeast hovered around 85%. Fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) has surged, and by late 2024 fiber accounted for about 77% of fixed broadband subscriptions, with about 41.3 million fiber connections out of roughly 53 million fixed lines. 4G coverage is virtually universal, with 4G available in all 5,570 municipalities and over 98% of the population covered. The November

29 May 2025

Access · Brazil · Connectivity · Digital Divide · Internet

Internet Access in Sudan

Sudan’s internet backbone is centered at Port Sudan and links land via the East Africa Submarine System (EASSy) and FLAG/FALCON, with terrestrial fiber reaching Egypt and Ethiopia. Sudatel (Sudani) is over 60% state-owned and operates the national backbone along with fixed-line, mobile, and internet services under the Sudani brand. Zain Sudan, a subsidiary of Kuwait’s Zain Group, is the largest mobile operator with roughly 50% of the mobile market and offers nationwide 2G/3G/4G services. MTN Sudan, part of South Africa’s MTN Group, holds about a 25% share of the mobile market and provides mobile voice and data. Canar Telecom is

25 February 2025

Access · Connectivity · Internet · Sudan · Technology

Internet Access in Iraq

The Ministry of Communications (MoC) controls the national fiber backbone and international gateways and leases bandwidth to private ISPs at wholesale prices around $50 per 1 Mbps. As of 2021, Iraq had about 2.1 million fixed-line/FTTH subscribers, with most of the deployment concentrated in Baghdad. Iraq has over 40 million mobile subscriptions, with 4G LTE launched in January 2021 across Zain Iraq, Asiacell, and Korek, reaching approximately 98% of the population by 2023. By early 2024, about 36.2 million Iraqis were internet users, representing 78–79% of the population. The Iraqi National Backbone project, led by Earthlink and Nokia, will span

24 February 2025

Access · Connectivity · Internet · Iraq · NASDAQ:ELNK · NYSE:NOK · NYSE:VOD · Technology

Internet Access in Libya: A Comprehensive Overview

Libya’s core internet framework is state-dominated under the Libyan Post, Telecommunication and Information Technology Company (LPTIC), with LTT as the leading fixed broadband and data services ISP, Libyana and Al-Madar Al-Jadeed as two state mobile operators, and about 25 private ISPs plus 23 VSAT operators licensed since 2011. Libyana launched 4G LTE in January 2018 and had 49 towns covered by April 2022, while Al-Madar Al-Jadeed launched 4G in October 2018 and claimed over 80% population coverage by 2022, with 4G availability reaching 76.8% of locations by early 2023. There were 12.4 million active mobile connections by June 2023, equivalent

16 February 2025

Access · Internet · Libya · Overview · Technology

Internet Access in China

By the end of 2023, about 1.09 billion Chinese residents were online (roughly 77.5% of the population), with over 99% of users accessing the net via mobile phones. China’s three major Internet Service Providers are China Telecom (state-owned, dominant in southern China), China Unicom (state-owned, dominant in northern regions), and China Mobile (the largest mobile operator, dominant in central and eastern China), effectively regional monopolies that control the backbone and last-mile connectivity. China has rapidly rolled out fiber broadband and 5G, installing millions of 5G base stations to boost speed and capacity, with median mobile download speeds around 117 Mbps

10 February 2025

Access · China · Internet · NASDAQ:BIDU · NASDAQ:BILI · NASDAQ:WB · NYSE:BABA · NYSE:CHA · NYSE:CHL · Society · Technology

Internet Access in Syria

History of Internet Development in Syria Syria was relatively late in opening internet access to the public. An internet connection was established in the country by 1997, but for years Syria was the only connected Middle Eastern country that did not allow general public access hrw.org. In the late 1990s, only government institutions and a few individuals (often via proxy connections through Lebanon) could get online hrw.org. This cautious rollout reflected official policy: the regime under President Hafez al-Assad took a “go-slow” approach, fearing the free flow of information. All media in Syria were tightly controlled, and officials were wary that the

7 February 2025

Access · Internet · Middle East · Syria · Technology

Access News 7 February 2025 - 10 July 2025