BEIRUT: Lebanon plans to lower Internet prices and boost speed after cutting landline and mobile call prices by up to half this month to boost consumption and ease pressure on consumers, its telecoms minister said yesterday.
A country of about 4 million people, Lebanon has some of the world’s highest mobile phone service prices, but service is often spotty. The slow and costly Internet is one of the main obstacles for businesses in the country. Analysts say it has inhibited economic growth at a time Lebanon is suffering from fallout of the war in neighbouring Syria, which hit tourism and investment.
Telecommunications Minister Boutros Harb, who was appointed in February to a government formed after nearly a year of deadlock, said he was working to lower prices and improve quality to stimulate the economy more broadly. “Now I’m nearing a measure related to cell phones, and I have much bigger and more important measures related to Internet prices,” he said.
This month, Lebanon cut the price of local and international phone calls on mobile and landline networks by between 30 and 50 percent to encourage customers to use the service more often.
“Why are Lebanese paying cell phone call prices that are the highest in the world?” Harb said, adding landline use had increased about 30 percent since prices were lowered. “I want a phone in Lebanon to be on par with international prices, and not more. I want a phone in Lebanon to meet the needs of people,” he said. Lebanon’s two mobile carriers, Alfa and MTC Touch, are both owned by the government although Alfa is managed by Egypt’s Orascom Telecom Media and Technology and MTC Touch is managed by Kuwait’s Zain. Reuters
