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The Daily Star - - Beirut introduces affordable high-speed Internet

Beirut introduces affordable high-speed Internet

By Michael Bluhm Daily Star staff

BEIRUT: High-speed ADSL Internet officially arrived in Lebanon Monday, as Premier Fouad Siniora and Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh welcomed the most populous areas into the ADSL network. Monday's ceremony was largely symbolic, as one week ago the country's Internet service providers (ISPs) tapped into the new lines installed by monopoly telecom operator Ogero. So far, the service covers 10 telecom districts, known as central offices: Riad al-Solh, Achrafieh, Karantina, Ras Beirut, Mina al-Hosn, Bir Hassan, Jounieh, Zahle, Sidon and Mina in Tripoli. Customers in these areas who order now will have to wait one to two weeks for installation of the service, which uses existing analog phone lines to establish an uninterrupted connection while still allowing for simultaneous phone conversations. The service has rolled out at prices rivaling those for unpredictable dial-up connections, and ISPs reported brisk demand for ADSL since they started accepting applications last week. The ado accompanying ADSL stems not only from its competitive pricing, but also because many countries have seen their economies goosed by the multiplier effect of providing widespread access to high-speed Internet. "Lebanon was outside the knowledge economy, and now it enters it through the front door," said Hamadeh. The dynamics of ADSL in Lebanon also have to take into account rampant piracy, as roughly 30 percent of all Internet connections go through illegal satellite providers. To fight piracy and reap the economic benefits associated with ADSL, all parties' concerned stress the key factor will be how quickly ADSL can be made available to as many people as possible. "The most important thing is how fast we deploy," said the provider's executive director, Maroun Chammas. "I'm sure it's going to help the economy." The next round of central offices, slated for connection in mid-June, includes Mazraa, Ras al-Nabeh, Zouk, Antelias, Jal al Dib, Mazraat Yachouh, Qornet Shehwan, Broummana, Mansourieh, Dbayyeh, Badaro, Adlieh and Jdeideh. Twelve more central offices have been tabbed for ADSL this year: Tripoli Tell, Dora, Sin al-Fil, Hazmieh, Dekwaneh, Mreijeh, Amrousieh, Elissar, Aley, Choueifat, Damour and Shiyah. Next should witness about 60 more central offices, such as Baalbek, the Bekaa and the rest of the South picking up the service, which would mean 90 percent of the nation's active phone lines would have access to ADSL connections. To hasten the spread of the product, ISPs have been pressuring Ogero to increase its capacity to connect new clients. Ogero has promised to hook up 50 customers per day, while Hamadeh told The Daily Star he will take the steps to meet the ministry's goal of 45,000 connections this year. Looking over the ministry's shoulder will be the recently established Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), which has issued its input on how it expects the rollout to proceed. "For this service to be launched on a sustainable basis a lot more needs to be done," said TRA Chairman Kamal Shehadi. "This is just the beginning of a long process before we can say we have nationwide ADSL coverage." ISPs and Ogero are offering ADSL for an installation charge of $38 and monthly fees based on connection speed: 128 kilobits per second (kbps) at $23.90, 256 kbps at $33.90, 512 kbps at $46.90 and 1 Mbps at $76.90, with respective monthly caps of 2GB, 3GB, 4GB and 5 GB of free monthly traffic.