Telecommunications in Lebanon - Internet Services

Internet Services

The development and growth of internet infrastructure has been particularly slow in Lebanon due to Corruption and allegations of a sector Monopoly.

Internet services are administered in Lebanon by the Ministry of Telecommunication. Lebanon provides three types of services: dialup services, wireless Internet service and ADSL. Lebanon ranks 164th on the netindex.com (as of 09/Nov/2011).

A) 56 K dialup:
Dialup services cost around $7 a month but users have to pay for the cost of phone communication.

B) ADSL Services:
ADSL was offered for the first time in April 2007 and there are currently (as of July 2011) 1,284,361 subscribers. The ADSL network has been undergoing large upgrades throughout the country. The addition of the new IMEWE underwater cable during the summer of 2011 has dramatically increased Lebanon's international bandwidth capacity, allowing for increased speeds and larger data caps. The prices for ADSL varies lightly depending on the DSP but typically cost from $16/month (1 Mbit/s) to 114$/month (8 Mbit/s) on limited bandwidth plans.

There are current unlimited plans for ADSL but only on low accounts such as 128 kbit/s for 26$/month and 256 kbit/s for 36$/month. ADSL in Lebanon is still suffering from state-owned OGERO's monopoly over the bandwidth and nation-wide corruption, resulting in the worst services at the highest prices (with over 1000% taxation) and lack of competition between ISPs.

To fix the problem, former Minister of Telecommunications Charbel Nahas signed an 18 month contract with Consolidated Engineering & Trading and French/American Company Alcatel-Lucent to install a Fiber Optics grid. According to Nahhas, by the end of 2011 all the areas of Lebanon will have fast internet ranging from 10-15 Mbit/s download, and 20 Mbit/s and more will be available the year after, allowing Lebanon to finally catch up with the rest of the world. Such plans have not yet fully taken place, as Lebanese citizens have access to a maximum of 8 Mbit/s as of 2012.

C) Wireless Internet:
Wireless Internet services were offered for the first time in 2005 to palliate for the absence of ADSL infrastructure at the time. It's fees across ISPs revolves around $45/month. Wireless internet is portable: users can connect nearly anywhere through a receiver (connected to the client via USB or Ethernet) and it provides download rates between 512 kbit/s and 1 Mbit/s depending on the chosen plan. Coverage weakens in densely built areas or remote locations. Bandwidth is limited to 3GB (45$/mo) and 5GB (90$/mo) per month, with unlimited bandwidth from midnight till 8AM based on Fair Usage Policy (FUP). Extra bandwidth can be bought at 25$ per 1GB.

Point-to-Point Leased Line fees include:

• A one time connection fee based on Bit Rate- calculated per Leased Line- (and depending on the Leased Line Bit Rate).
• A recurring monthly fee with a fixed component which is based on Bit Rate, and a variable component based on Bit Rate and distance.

There are 17 licensed ISPs (Internet Services Providers) and 9 licensed DSPs (Data Service Providers) operating in Lebanon.

ISPs:
Broadband Plus, ComNet, Farah Net, Fiberlink Networks (NewCom), IDM, Keblon, Lebanon OnLine, Masco Group, Moscanet (Wise), Onet Plus, Pro Services, Sodetel, Solidere, Terranet, Transmog (Cyberia), Tri Network Consultants, Virtual ISP (VISP).

DSPs:
Cable One, Cedarcom, GlobalCom Data Services, Pesco, Sodetel, Solidere, LCNC S.A.L., TRISAT S.A.R.L., Waves S.A.L.

For more information about the licensed ISPs/DSPs, you can visit TRA website

As of 2009 Lebanon has 950000 internet users or 24% of the population.

As of June 2011 Lebanon has 1,201,820, 29.0% penetration rate

As of Dec 31, 2011 Lebanon has 1,367,220 Internet users, 33.0% penetration rate