Egypt's shut down of the Internet in response to the pro-democracy riots taking place there was not only costly to its citizens when it comes to having access to key communications, it also proved costly to the nation's economy.
Preliminary figures released Thursday by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development showed that Egypt's decision to block Internet services for five days cost the country an estimated $90 million. The OECD said the blocked telecommunications and Internet services accounted for about 3 percent to 4 percent of the country's gross domestic product, which accounted for about $18 million a day.
"The long-term impact could be greater ... as it has cut off domestic and international high-tech firms who provide services globally and will make it much more difficult in the future to attract foreign companies and assure them that the networks will remain reliable.
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