Satellite for all?

Thousands have found a new way to enjoy satellite channels, but is it legal? Dena Rashed investigates

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Walking along the streets of Boulaq Abul-Ela district on the perimeters of downtown Cairo, you can't help but notice white wires dangling from the balconies of the old houses.

Tracing the origin of the wires is no easy task, but somewhere on a nearby rooftop, you're sure to find them converging on a particular satellite dish.

Multiple connections emanating from a single satellite dish is the most visible sign of a new type of private business that started to appear around the country during the past few months. People living in certain areas now have the option to subscribe to open access channels transmitted via satellite, thereby avoiding the costs of purchasing a dish and receiver.

Launching such an initiative is fairly simple. The investor buys at least three satellite dishes, enlists the services of clever technicians, and signs up subscribers residing in the immediate vicinity of one another.

The service has advantages over the sharing of a satellite dish among a number of residents in a single building. Since such arrangements typically involved a single receiver, those participating were stuck watching the same channel as their neighbours.

Mohamed Said is one of the Boulaq Abul-Ela residents who invested his money in offering the new service. Under the new system, which does not use any receivers -- just wires emanating from a dish -- subscribers have their pick of channels. Boulaq Abul-Ela proved particularly suitable for such a scheme, owing to proximity of the buildings that line its narrow streets.

However, Boulaq Abul-Ela is only one of many areas in which the service is taking off. In Cairo alone the service is available in parts of Bain Al- Sarayat, in Giza, the eastern districts of Al-Zatoun and Ain Shams.

Although Said was not the first to offer the service in his district, he is certainly the most famous. His advertisements are all over the streets of Boulaq Abul-Ela. "Pay LE20 per month for access to 16 satellite channels," they say. Although Saeid's name and mobile number were on the ad, he was reluctant to talk about the project. He did, however, insist it was legal. "I took permission from the Ministry of Culture to promote these channel services to the people," he said.

A recent announcement by the Ministry of Interior and the privately owned Cable Network of Egypt (CNE) though, has declared the service illegal.

"It's not just harmful for the company, but for the entire country," said Mohamed Abdel-Latif, managing director of CNE. Abdel-Latif said his company had not foreseen the proliferation of access to satellite channels in such a manner. "It is not true that some people have a licence to promote the channels; the licence concerned the promotion of the service in certain buildings, but not through streets, houses and wires," he added.

Although tracking down the providers of the service is proving difficult, Abdel-Latif said the authorities are doing their best to curb it. Of service providers, he said, "They are violating our intellectual property rights, and they have to be stopped." Abdel-Latif added that closed circuit broadcasting, on which the scheme depends, is potentially harmful since it could be used to transmit any programming.

Dangerous or not, the service has been very successful. Said has 200 to 250 subscribers. "In a given street, I need at least three subscribers to be able to provide the service," he said.

But it's not just individuals who are jumping on the bandwagon, coffee shops are another major category of subscribers.

Coffee shops, particularly in low- income areas, have always been a place to watch football matches. People who could not afford a satellite dish would spend evenings at such establishments to watch the cup finals -- paying higher beverage prices for the privilege. Adel Abu Doma, the owner of a large coffee shop in Boulaq, used to subscribe to football channels. "I used to pay LE400 every three months to subscribe to the ART channels to attract more customers to the coffee shop," he said, referring to a network of Arab satellite channels.

Ayman Gaber, a customer at the coffee shop and a contractor by profession, was enthusiastic about the new way of obtaining satellite services. "I was going to introduce the same idea to Boulaq Abul-Ela, but would have had to have taken money from my other business." Now, though, Gaber laments having not done so. "I saw the new service first in Al-Asafra district in Alexandria governorate, and I knew it was a very good idea, but I missed the chance," he added with a sigh. As a satisfied customer of the service, Gaber did not miss out entirely.

Although subscription costs pale in comparison to those with cable networks operating in Egypt, they are out of reach for many. But lowering monthly fees, say service providers, is out of the question, owing to the financial risks such a business entails. A police crackdown on such an operation in which some LE30,000 to LE40,000 has been invested -- a figure claimed by one service provider -- would be devastating.

But that may be the greatest of service providers' worries. Said claims to be unconcerned about competition from other providers.

"I know that many people will invest in this business, but I know I will get more subscribers because I have a licence from the Ministry of Culture," he said.

In the district of Imbaba, in Giza governorate, the business has also attracted many customers. Tarek Attiya, a carpenter, started subscribing a month ago. "It's a great idea because people need it," he said. "We need to cut our daily expences; I personally could not afford to pay LE2,000 to buy a satellite dish on my own." Two providers are operating in his district, each charging a LE50 hook-up fee and a LE20 monthly subscription.

Sameh Attiya, also of Imbaba, said he was not interested in such a service, even though he could afford it. "It depends on what you do with your spare time," he said. "I have a computer at home, and going online consumes all my spare time; it's better than sitting in front of the TV watching movies or listening to songs."

But that seems to be a minority view. "For many people paying LE20 per month is not much at all, besides it's like having your own dish," said Tamer Fakher, a driver.

Said doesn't expect prompt payment of subscription fees to be a problem. "So far, people have paid their first monthly subscription; if they don't pay in coming months, we'll just pull the plug and they'll be disconnected."

C a p t i o n : WIRED-UP: Egyptian slum areas find cheap ways to access the communication revolution

Al-Ahram Weekly Online : 21 - 27 August 2003 (Issue No. 652)
Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/652/feat1.htm