Communications in Lebanon
Encyclopedia
This article concerns the systems of communication in Lebanon. Lebanon
possesses a number of systems of telecommunication, some of which are currently being reconstructed following damage during the civil war that ended in 1991. The country code
and top-level domain for Lebanon is "LB".
satellite-earth stations, a coaxial
cable, and microwave radio relay station to Syria
and three submarine coaxial cables.
radio broadcast stations. As of 2005, there are 28 privately owned FM radio stations. One FM station, which shifts between French, English, and Armenian, and the sole AM radio station, which broadcasts solely in Arabic, are owned by the state-owned Radio Lebanon, which is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Information. Radio Lebanon also relays Radio France International at 13:00 (UTC) daily. Among private broadcasters are the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation(LBCI), National Broadcasting Network, Radio One
, and the Voice of Tomorrow. There are 2.85 million radios is Lebanon. Furthermore, Lebanon has two digital cable television companies, Cable Vision and echonet.
There are 28 television broadcast stations in Lebanon, although the application of the Audiovisual law has caused the closure of a number of TV stations. The PAL
television standard is used in Lebanon. Except for the state-owned Télé-Liban, most broadcasters run commercials and are privately owned. Some of the most important television networks are the LBC
, Murr TV
, Al Jadeed
, Future TV, Orange TV (OTV)
, Al-Manar
, NBN
, Télé Lumière
, and TL
(controlled by the government). There are 1.18 million television sets in Lebanon.
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 October 2007) 14,000 subscribers. The ADSL network is still under slow development in some cities or rural areas. The prices for ADSL varies lightly depending on the DSP but typically cost from $19/month (128 kpbs) to 70$/month (1 Mbit/s) on limited bandwidth plans. Ogero also provides HDSL: a 2.3 Mbit/s account for the download and upload traffic with an 8 GB/month limitation for 200$/month.
There are current unlimited plans for ADSL but only on low accounts such as 128 kbit/s for 26$/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.
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:
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
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
possesses a number of systems of telecommunication, some of which are currently being reconstructed following damage during the civil war that ended in 1991. The country code
Country code
Country codes are short alphabetic or numeric geographical codes developed to represent countries and dependent areas, for use in data processing and communications. Several different systems have been developed to do this. The best known of these is ISO 3166-1...
and top-level domain for Lebanon is "LB".
Telephone
There are 750,000 landlines, and 2,916,000 mobile telephones in use in Lebanon. The telephone system experienced severe damage during the civil war, but was completely rebuilt and revamped. The systems that provide the infrastructure for the telephone network are, domestically, microwave radio relay stations and cables, and internationally, two IntelsatIntelsat
Intelsat, Ltd. is a communications satellite services provider.Originally formed as International Telecommunications Satellite Organization , it was—from 1964 to 2001—an intergovernmental consortium owning and managing a constellation of communications satellites providing international broadcast...
satellite-earth stations, a coaxial
Coaxial
In geometry, coaxial means that two or more forms share a common axis; it is the three-dimensional linear analogue of concentric.Coaxial cable, as a common example, has a wire conductor in the centre a circumferential outer conductor and an insulating medium called the dielectric separating...
cable, and microwave radio relay station to Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
and three submarine coaxial cables.
Free radio and television broadcasting
Lebanon possesses one AM radio broadcast station, and 32 FMFM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...
radio broadcast stations. As of 2005, there are 28 privately owned FM radio stations. One FM station, which shifts between French, English, and Armenian, and the sole AM radio station, which broadcasts solely in Arabic, are owned by the state-owned Radio Lebanon, which is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Information. Radio Lebanon also relays Radio France International at 13:00 (UTC) daily. Among private broadcasters are the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation(LBCI), National Broadcasting Network, Radio One
Radio One (Lebanon)
Radio One Lebanon is a radio station that serves Lebanon, broadcasting on the FM band at the 105.5 frequency. This station is licenced to broadcast all over Lebanon....
, and the Voice of Tomorrow. There are 2.85 million radios is Lebanon. Furthermore, Lebanon has two digital cable television companies, Cable Vision and echonet.
There are 28 television broadcast stations in Lebanon, although the application of the Audiovisual law has caused the closure of a number of TV stations. The PAL
PAL
PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is an analogue television colour encoding system used in broadcast television systems in many countries. Other common analogue television systems are NTSC and SECAM. This page primarily discusses the PAL colour encoding system...
television standard is used in Lebanon. Except for the state-owned Télé-Liban, most broadcasters run commercials and are privately owned. Some of the most important television networks are the LBC
Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation
The Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation , widely known as LBC, is the first private television station in Lebanon. It went global in 1996 when it launched its satellite channel LBC Al-Fadha'iya Al-Lubnaniya covering the Arab World. It now has several channels covering Europe, America, Australia, and...
, Murr TV
Murr Television
Murr Television is a Lebanese television station based in Naccache, a suburb of the capital Beirut. It is owned by Lebanese politician Gabriel Murr and directed by his son Michel Murr...
, Al Jadeed
Al Jadeed
Al Jadeed , formerly known as New TV, is a 24-hour PAN Arab station broadcasting from Lebanon offering general-interest programming in the Arabic language.The launch of Al Jadeed took place on October 4, 2001 in Lebanon and the Arab world...
, Future TV, Orange TV (OTV)
Orange TV
OTV is a publicly-traded television station in Lebanon.It began broadcasting on July 20, 2007 on the Arabsat satellite, on the 11823MHz frequency. OTV Launched officially in 2008 after a testing period of almost six months. OTV now covers the world through different broadcasting channels for...
, Al-Manar
Al-Manar
Al-Manar is a Lebanese satellite television station affiliated with Hezbollah, registered as Lebanese Media Group Company, broadcasting from Beirut, Lebanon. It has an offering a "rich menu" of high production news, commentary, and entertainment. The self-proclaimed "Station of the Resistance" ,...
, NBN
National Broadcasting Network (Lebanon)
National Broadcasting Network known as NBN is the official television of the Lebanese Amal Movement. The National Broadcasting Network s.a.l. NBN, is a Lebanese private company by shares, founded in 1996. In September 2000, NBN launched its satellite channel via Arab Sat and Nile Sat to cover the...
, Télé Lumière
Télé Lumière
-History:Télé Lumière as its name indicates means the "TV of Light". It is the first Christian television station in Lebanon and the Arab world and was founded in 1991 by a group of committed lay people:*Late Charles Helou, a former President of Lebanon...
, and TL
Télé Liban
Télé Liban became the first Lebanese public television network, owned by the Lebanese government. Télé Liban was a result of the merger of two privately-owned stations, CLT and Télé Orient in 1977. Currently, it mainly broadcasts terrestrially throughout Lebanon. TL is the current Lebanese...
(controlled by the government). There are 1.18 million television sets in Lebanon.
Paid radio and television
There are two cable TV companies in Lebanon: Cable Vision http://www.cablevision-leb.net/ and Eco Net.Internet services
The development and growth of internet infrastructure has been particularly slow in Lebanon due to CorruptionCorruption
Corruption usually refers to spiritual or moral impurity.Corruption may also refer to:* Corruption , an American crime film* Corruption , a British horror film...
and allegations of a sector Monopoly
Monopoly
A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...
.
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 October 2007) 14,000 subscribers. The ADSL network is still under slow development in some cities or rural areas. The prices for ADSL varies lightly depending on the DSP but typically cost from $19/month (128 kpbs) to 70$/month (1 Mbit/s) on limited bandwidth plans. Ogero also provides HDSL: a 2.3 Mbit/s account for the download and upload traffic with an 8 GB/month limitation for 200$/month.
There are current unlimited plans for ADSL but only on low accounts such as 128 kbit/s for 26$/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
Charbel Nahas
Charbel Nahas Nahas is the current Labour minister in Najib Mikati's second government as of June 2011. He is one of Eleven Change and Reform ministers, which is headed by General Michel Aoun, the largest share that it has ever had in Government...
signed an 18 month contract with Consolidated Engineering & Trading and French/American Company Alcatel-Lucent
Alcatel-Lucent
Alcatel-Lucent is a global telecommunications corporation, headquartered in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France. It provides telecommunications solutions to service providers, enterprises, and governments around the world, enabling these customers to deliver voice, data, and video services...
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.
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