3G set to finally be launched in Lebanon

Lebanon’s government has announced that the country’s two mobile networks will be formally permitted to launch 3G services following several delays.

Telecom minister Nicolas Sehnaoui also announced that the service would be fixed at the equivalent of US$19 for 500Mb of data downloads.

Lebanon’s two state-owned – but BOT operators, Alfa (Orascom Telecom) and Zain, will offer 3G subscriptions and will announce the rates for other packages in early November.

There had been concerns earlier this summer that legal action from an ISP, Cedarcom could delay the launch as it claimed the government did not have the authority to issue 3G licences.

The ISP also claimed that the regulatory regime was blocking it from selling landline DSL based services, which it considers to be unfair and unjust competition.

The two networks recently awarded contracts to deploy HSPA enabled 3G networks.

The managing companies have renewing one-year contracts to manage the networks – which the government has repeatedly attempted to privatise but the sale has been blocked by political problems.