Broadband connectivity and digitization increase and lead to the creation of a world-class Telco infrastructure in Lebanon

Provide 100% of households across Lebanon with 24/7 affordable public utilities (i.e. water, electricity, broadband, waste management)

People Centered, Efficient and Affordable Services

1.The term broadband refers to high-speed internet access. Broadband service provides a higher-speed of data transmission. It provides access to the highest quality internet services, such as videoconferencing for telehealth, that require large amounts of data transmission. Broadband access is constant.

2.Broadband is a driver for economic development and job creation, human skills development, and an enabler of democracy and social transformation

3.World Bank studies show that every 10% increase in broadband penetration contributes to 1% increase in the GDP of developing countries

4.The Information Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure is the fastest and cheapest to deploy compared to the other three infrastructures (electricity, water, roads)

5.ICT and broadband have fundamentally changed the way we live, work, and play (medicine, education, media, commerce, etc.)

1.Broadband penetration

2.Cellular subscriptions per 100 habitants

3.Prices of internet, data and cellular communications

4.Network Readiness Index (NRI)

5.Global Information Technology Report (GITR) –  World Economic Forum (WEF)

6.Measuring the Information Society – International Telecom Union (ITU) 

1.Lebanon suffers from a weak telecommunications infrastructure and a digital divide between urban and rural areas

2.A clear vision: ICT and broadband are a general purpose technology with pervasive productivity impacts on multiple sectors of the predominantly services driven economy.  Instead, the Government has handled the telecom sector as a cash cow, leading to telco revenues being the second largest income earner for the government averaging 3.4% of GDP annually over the past decade

3.A clear policy: In the absence of policy, the sector operates according to exceptional, temporary, and circumstantial decisions by the Council of Ministers

4.Investment: In most countries telecom investments are made by the private sector.  Public funding / incentives come when the private sector is not willing / able to invest in less lucrative segments of the market. In Lebanon, the public sector is the main investor, and there is evidence of under-investment in all telecommunications infrastructure

5.Competition: the private sector has only 5% share of the telecom market. The lack of competition is translating into fewer services ( FTTX, fiber to home, business…Triple Play, data, video and voice supplied in a unique access etc.), lower quality of service, and higher prices (highest mobile broadband price in the region except Djibouti and Syria)

1.Lack of investment in public WiFi networks to provide internet access to segments of society that cannot afford personal or residential internet subscriptions

2.Government control keeps tariffs high and limits product differentiation

3.Fiber optic network is at its infancy

4.Minimum investment obligations to Data Service Providers (DSP) are a burden (Successful examples show that small and micro operators can be a formidable force behind the development of broadband)

5.All essential telecommunications services are currently provided through assets owned by the Republic of Lebanon and managed by the Ministry of Telecommunications (MOT)

6.The government role should be that of the policy maker and enabler of the benefits of broadband to the rest of society. Instead, GoL is playing the role of policy maker, regulator, operator, and service provider

7.There is too much concentration of power in the MOT, leading to slow decision-making and an inability to keep up with the sector’s evolution

8.Inefficient spending and corruption in employment placement and contracts’ awarding

9.This inefficient regulatory regime does not comply with international best-practices

10.Countries of the region (Jordan, Egypt or Tunisia) that introduced competition have better performance on penetration, quality of services, and prices

11.The country’s ongoing power crisis threatens the sector, as only 15% of Lebanon’s mobile towers have reliable power supplies

1.1993-1996 Government of Lebanon (GOL) built a new telephone Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) network, which refers to the world's oldest collection of interconnected communication solutions

2.2002 Revert the 2 Build / Operate / Transfer (BOT) mobile contracts to the state

3.2002 Telecom Law 431/2002 to establish “Liban Telecom” and the Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRA) and outlining the rules of transferring telecom assets to the private sector was passed and not enacted (partially enacted between 2007 and 2014 to establish a mandate less TRA)

4.2013 deployment of the 3G mobile network

5.2015 Ministry of Telecommunications (MOT) and Ogero announce “Lebanon Vision 2020” to deploy FTTX and 4G to all regions of Lebanon

6.2017 MOT and Ogero initiate  of a wide scale fiber optic project across all Lebanese territories and Ogero awards tenders to three international companies entrusted with linking end users to their central offices

7.2019: National Lebanese Strategy for Cybersecurity

8.May 2020: The Lebanese government resumed management of state-owned operators Alfa and Touch after operating contracts held by Orascom Telecom Media and Technology (OTMT) and Zain Group respectively expired

Policy Action

1.Reconstitute MOT as Ministry of Information and Communication Technologies (MoICT) and end its role as a supplier in markets

2.Implement a digitization program (high-speed Internet and 5G), and provide Internet access to every home and institution

3.Implement all the CEDRE conference decisions in terms of infrastructure development after reviewing the priorities and the establishment of a Data Center,

4.Institutionalize total transparency across the entire sector (MOT, Mobile Interim Company 1 and 2-MIC1, MIC2, Ogero, Data Service Providers-DSPs, Internet Service Providers-ISPs) on licensing, employment, accounts, contracts, etc.

5.Institutionalize a clear sector policy for a legally enforceable, 3-year term ensuring separation of powers

6.Reform Governance

7.Restore Telecom Regulatory Authority’s role and independence

8.Liberalize the telecommunications sector and increase competition by launching new licenses in all fields, particularly the 5G and the Fiber Optics, and add at least one mobile services provider

9.Allow strategic partners for MIC1 and MIC2; Allow access to ducts of Ogero

10.Free entry to all other markets not requiring scarce resources, mainly spectrum licensing, in a fair, effective, transparent and swift procedure for the licensing of Radio Frequencies to service providers

11.Encourage funding of necessary investments: to come from private sector to the extent possible by allowing strategic partners and/or Public Private Partnerships