Representatives of Kuwait's Internet Service Provider companies and ministry officials have reached an agreement on reducing subscription fees on consumers by 42 percent , an official from the Ministry of Communication said. A decree on this regard will be announced within the week, "The Ministry of Communication has agreed to reduce the tax that Internet Service Provider companies pay by 42 percent, on the condition that the companies reduce their subscription fees to consumers by the same rate, said the official who wished to remain anonymous. The ministry went as far as to threaten to revoke the licenses of any ISPs that fail to comply with the new policy.

The Internet bandwidth cap crisis escalated in June, when companies applied a fair usage policy on users. Representatives of the Internet Service Providers stressed that they were forced to take such measures in order to avoid straining their servers. By putting a daily download bandwidth limit on consumers, the companies guaranteed that their servers are never exhausted.

Speaking to the Kuwait Times, a source at a major Internet Service Provider company who is knowledgeable on the subject and who agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity stressed that the solution proposed by the Ministry of Communication is half-baked and at best temporary, if it can be considered a solution at all.

Our cost is not just the fees we pay to the Ministry of Communication. We are also obligated with other fees and costs. By forcing us to reduce our prices by 42 percent, we are reducing our profitability as well," he said. He added that by limiting the subscription fees and the profitability, they limit competition between the different providers, and therefore, affect the quality of service provided to the consumers.

The good news is that by reducing the fees that the companies pay for, these companies will be able to buy more bandwidth, "Whether this policy is efficient or not, we will only be able to tell in the coming months. For now, ISPs are scampering to find the best way they can employ the new policy," he said. A customer service representative of an ISP company noted that companies are in the process of putting together a mechanism to refund subscribers who paid fees before prices were slashed. Details will be announced within the coming weeks.