KUWAIT CITY, Aug 13: The Board of Directors of the Communications and Information Technology Regulatory Authority (CITRA) decided to adjust the prices of fixed home internet (wired and wireless), in addition to adding new speeds that reached 3 times the speed currently applied, which was a maximum of 100 Mbps, reports Al-Rai daily. The Council decided to amend the tariff of all fixed home internet subscriptions (wired and wireless) with speeds available in the market, so that the maximum annual tariff would be 415 dinars, compared to a speed of 400 Mbps.

The decision prohibits providers of fixed (wired and wireless) home internet services from exceeding the maximum value of the subscription tariff stipulated in the decision, and it is not permissible to impose a fair use policy in providing Internet services; but what has changed in the value of fixed home internet prices (wired and wireless) and the scale of speeds compared to the previous decision? Digitally, the new price list shows that the value of consumption witnessed a tangible decrease in some speeds, reaching 62.26 percent at a speed of 40 Mbps, while it amounts to about 57 percent for the minimum speed, which is 20 Mbps, as its annual subscription rate was reduced from 139 to 60 dinars, while The new maximum speed subscription, set at 400 Mbps, amounts to 415 dinars.

As for the speed of 100 Mbps, which was the maximum speed for fixed home internet “wired and wireless” in the past, its subscription was reduced from 322 dinars to 200 dinars annually, noting that the value of the previous subscription to the speed of 100 Mbps is almost equivalent to the value of the subscription to the speed of 300 Mbps according to the new decision (only two dinars more). In addition, it is noted that the speeds of the new resolution start at 20 Mbps, unlike the old resolution, which starts at 1 Mbps. Perhaps the reason for not starting with the low speeds that were in force in the old decision is that these speeds are no longer used by Internet consumers at the present time, especially with the increase in demand for the service, and the need for higher speeds than before, even if the need is at the minimum level.

It is also noted that the new decision includes doubling speeds by 20 Mbps, from the ceiling of 20 Mbps to 400 Mbps, unlike the previous decision, which regulated speeds incrementally at a rate of 1 Mbps for speeds up to 8 Mbps, then by 2 Mbps from 10 Mbps to 24 Mbps, at a rate of 10 Mbps and from 30 Mbps to 100 Mbps, while the new decision regulation exceeded two speeds that were offered between the speed of 20 Mbps and 30 Mbps, which are 22/24 Mbps, for the same reason related to the consumer’s high need for these limits, as they are no longer required for consumption.