Finally Some Tangible Data on Telecom Sector Progress!

Could this be my first positive post ever on this blog? Probably! I’m not pessimistic, I’m just realistic; and the way things were going on lately in this country dictated an air of negativity that was caught by most of us.

Today, 4G testing has taken place in Beirut. Headed by Minister Nicolas Sehnaoui, the obtained results were really amazing. Average download speeds were hitting the upper 100Mbps limit (see picture below). These results are really wonderful and very promising. Additionally, a yearly report (English Version – Arabic Version – French Version) tackling the progress the Ministry of Telecommunication (MoT), from June 2011 till June 2012, shows very positive figures. I really enjoyed the professional yet friendly look of the report. Being prepared in the form of an infographic is very relevant.

Reading through the numbers, one can really notice the huge leap Lebanon has taken in terms of Internet speeds and Mobile Networking. Below are a few statistics showing the improvement in various Telecom sectors:

Mobile Network:

- 15% increase in Mobile Subscribers

- Additional 20% of Mobile network signal antennas have been installed

- 11% decrease in both prepaid and postpaid mobile plan costs per subscriber

- 45% Increase in number of available lines

- 73% Increase in number of available Products and Services for Mobile Users

- New service bundles for young people

Internet Service:

- 30% Increase in DSL subscriptions

- 20% Increase in Broadband Subscriptions

- The number of DSL equipped centrals have doubled

- 231% Increase in International Capacity Availability

- 15 times faster average DSL speed

- Free Internet at night

My readers may have noticed a contradiction between two posts. A couple of weeks ago, I posted an article on problems a lot of people have been facing in Lebanon concerning the mobile network. However, this does not contradict the fact that a lot of advancement have been experienced in the Telecom field. In fact, at the moment it seems the problems I had mentioned earlier are no longer as serious as they used to be. And one should be honest and say that the mobile network services have exponentially improved over the past year.

Also from my personal experience with DSL, I can vouch that my 4Mbps internet connection is delivering amazingly. Even though I had to go through a lot of trouble to get it to work (for some reason when I called 1515 they told me there was a problem with my central, but when the maintenance guy came over her told me that there’s nothing wrong with the central, but that something must be done by Ogero that hasn’t been done, And in a few minutes he got it to work. Now I have a fully working 4Mbps internet connect! Sweet!)

All in all, it is fair to say that regardless of what your political views are—whether you support Minister Sehnaoui’s political affiliation or not—you cannot deny the fact that for the first time, real tangible work  has been done, and results have been felt! I hope this will be a lesson for future projects. We have had enough of listening to empty speeches; and it’s not our fault that we need hard proof now to believe, political corruption have made it so!