Lebanese state-owned telcos Alfa and MTC Touch are set to launch the country’s first commercial 3G services on 1 November.
Egypt-based Orascom and Kuwait-based Zain respectively run Alfa and MTC Touch on behalf of the Lebanese…
Lebanese state-owned telcos Alfa and MTC Touch are set to launch the country’s first commercial 3G services on 1 November.
Egypt-based Orascom and Kuwait-based Zain respectively run Alfa and MTC Touch on behalf of the Lebanese government.
Because Orascom and Zain hold management contracts, the network belongs to the government and therefore no auction process was needed to award 3G licences.
Back in September, the country’s Ministry of Telecoms launched a month-long trial period for 4,000 smartphone users, split between both telcos, to test 3G services.
Detailing the pilot in a statement on 23 September, Claude Bassil, general manager of MTC Touch, said the group was finalising commercial schemes for 3G services “for both mobile phones and computers”, in collaboration with the government.
Local reports suggest the first available 3G packages on Alfa and MTC Touch networks will cost between US$10-US$19 per month, depending on data consumption.
In addition, telecoms minister Nicolas Sehnaoui has been cited claiming that 4G will be available in Lebanon next summer.
Lebanon has been gearing up to launch 3G services for at least four years, and the government has been criticised for contracting foreign companies to carry out the network upgrades.
Earlier this year, reports had cited local ISP Cedarcom warning that this move risked expelling the private sector. But Mahmoud Haidar, an adviser to former telecoms minister Charbel Nahhas, reportedly brushed off the accusations in April, saying that, once the networks were up and running, the private sector would have access to them.
