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<p class=MsoNormal><i><font size=2 color=blue face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:blue;font-style:italic'>Very
disappointing,<br>
L.<br>
<br>
</span></font></i></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=1 color="#9c0b0b" face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:7.5pt;font-family:Verdana;color:#9C0B0B;font-weight:bold'>Friday,
February 03, 2006</span></font></b></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black;font-weight:bold'>Arrival
of DSL in Lebanon fraught with problems</span></font></b></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><span class=blue31><b><font size=1 color="#000066"
face=Verdana><span style='font-size:7.5pt'>By Meris Lutz</span></span></font></b></span><b><font
size=1 color="#000066" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:7.5pt;font-family:
Verdana;color:#000066;font-weight:bold'> <br>
</span></font></b><span class=links1><font size=1 color="#666666"
face=Verdana><span style='font-size:7.5pt'><span lastVisited=0 roundtrip=0>Special
to The Daily Star</span></span></font></span></p>
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<p><font size=1 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
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<p class=articletext lastVisited=0 roundtrip=0><font size=1 color="#2a2a2a"
face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt'>Over a month ago, the Ministry of Telecommunications
announced it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with local data
and internet service providers (ISPs) to bring DSL to Lebanon, which would
increase the speed of Internet connection and possibly jumpstart a struggling
information technology sector. </span></font></p>
<p class=articletext lastVisited=0 roundtrip=0><font size=1 color="#2a2a2a"
face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt'>However, Lebanon's international
cable does not have the capacity to offer DSL on a large scale, causing the
ministry to charge data providers an artificially high price for access to
the cable and state-owned telephone lines DSL uses. </span></font></p>
<p class=articletext lastVisited=0 roundtrip=0><font size=1 color="#2a2a2a"
face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt'>The ministry sets the tariff for
access to the international cable, <a
href="http://www.dailystar.com.lb/printable.asp?art_ID=21918&cat_ID=3"
target="_top" oncontextmenu="return false;" id=KonaLink6 #FS2#><font
color="#2a2a2a"><span style='color:#2A2A2A;text-decoration:none'>rent</span></font></a>
of local switches [collocation] and of the last mile to a household modem,
the most costly being the international connection. </span></font></p>
<p class=articletext lastVisited=0 roundtrip=0><font size=1 color="#2a2a2a"
face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt'>"It's very expensive when
compared to the international benchmark, or even the regional benchmark,"
Sodetel chairman, Patrick Farajian said of the tariff. </span></font></p>
<p class=articletext lastVisited=0 roundtrip=0><font size=1 color="#2a2a2a"
face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt'>This cost is passed onto the
customers, who are expected to pay between $40-$50 a month, not including a
$100 startup fee - more than twice as much as in Jordan and Cyprus. </span></font></p>
<p class=articletext lastVisited=0 roundtrip=0><font size=1 color="#2a2a2a"
face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt'>Telecommunications Minister Marwan
Hamade admitted there is a bottleneck for the international cable, but that
the ministry is working to expand capacity. </span></font></p>
<p class=articletext lastVisited=0 roundtrip=0><font size=1 color="#2a2a2a"
face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt'>"The ministry has been
paralyzed for years while the main items discussed were conflicts with the
mobile companies," he said. "Now that we are out of this mess we
can address the issue of broadband." </span></font></p>
<p class=articletext lastVisited=0 roundtrip=0><font size=1 color="#2a2a2a"
face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt'>In addition, he said educational
institutions will receive special preference for DSL access, and that while
the cost of DSL will be high, the ministry is planning an overall reduction
in tariffs, which would make existing dialup cheaper. </span></font></p>
<p class=articletext lastVisited=0 roundtrip=0><font size=1 color="#2a2a2a"
face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt'>But many outside the ministry -
ISPs, consultants, and analysts - say the government has had plenty of time
to increase broadband and remain skeptical of the MOU. </span></font></p>
<p class=articletext lastVisited=0 roundtrip=0><font size=1 color="#2a2a2a"
face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt'>"The cost is prohibitive,
it's meant to discourage use," said Kamel Shehadi, managing director of
Connexus Consulting, a telecom regulation consulting agency. "They
cannot meet the demand of any user who asks for it; the government has not
done enough in the past 4-5 years to increase bandwidth." </span></font></p>
<p class=articletext lastVisited=0 roundtrip=0><font size=1 color="#2a2a2a"
face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt'>Shehadi said he thinks influential
actors who invested heavily in satellite and wireless services discouraged
the acquisition of more broadband because it would provide a cheaper
alternative. </span></font></p>
<p class=articletext lastVisited=0 roundtrip=0><font size=1 color="#2a2a2a"
face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt'>"There are vested interests
against Lebanon having greater international connection," he said.
"These vested interests can only be overcome if the minister continues
to force the acquisition of greater bandwidth." </span></font></p>
<p class=articletext lastVisited=0 roundtrip=0><font size=1 color="#2a2a2a"
face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt'>Riyad Bahsoum from the United
Nations International Telecommunications Union attributed the ministry's
failure to acquire more broadband to the "lack of sustainable regulatory
environment." </span></font></p>
<p class=articletext lastVisited=0 roundtrip=0><font size=1 color="#2a2a2a"
face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt'>"This is the reason why I
believe it will not be deployed," he added. </span></font></p>
<p class=articletext lastVisited=0 roundtrip=0><font size=1 color="#2a2a2a"
face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt'>Hamade said that the creation of
the Telecommunications Regulatory Committee is "imminent." </span></font></p>
<p class=articletext lastVisited=0 roundtrip=0><font size=1 color="#2a2a2a"
face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt'>In addition to the relatively high
estimated price of DSL, the ministry has yet to finalize this and other terms
of use necessary before the initial pilot phase of the MOU can begin. </span></font></p>
<p class=articletext><font size=1 color="#2a2a2a" face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:8.5pt'>The plan to offer DSL is broken down into two stages:
The first is a pilot phase due to begin around late March, which allows six
ISPs to offer DSL to 360 customers each in Beirut. Six months after the
initial pilot, providers are planning to offer DSL to the rest of the
country. </span></font></p>
<p class=articletext><font size=1 color="#2a2a2a" face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:8.5pt'>"Before being put into practice [the pilot],
some decrees need to be issued," IT director of Ogero Toufic Chebaro
said. </span></font></p>
<p class=articletext><font size=1 color="#2a2a2a" face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:8.5pt'>The fact that many of the logistics of the MOU have
not been finalized is causing some ISPs to doubt the project will be launched
on schedule. </span></font></p>
<p class=articletext><font size=1 color="#2a2a2a" face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:8.5pt'>"When you say decrees, things take time,"
Farajian said. </span></font></p>
<p class=articletext><font size=1 color="#2a2a2a" face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:8.5pt'>In addition to determining leasing fees, the ministry
has yet to finalize the licensing of the data providers, many of which are
currently only allowed to provide wireless.</span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><b><font size=1 color="#9c0b0b"
face=Verdana><span style='font-size:7.5pt;font-family:Verdana;color:#9C0B0B;
font-weight:bold'><img border=0 width=232 height=26
src="cid:image001.gif@01C62864.62F34AB0"><br>
</span></font></b><span class=verblack21><b><font size=1 color=black
face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt'>Copyright (c) 2006 The Daily Star</span></font></b></span></p>
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