Lebanon Plans New International Fibre Cable

Lebanon has plans for a new Internet submarine cable to link the country to Europe, BusinessNews.com.lb reported. Minister of Telecommunications Mohamad Choucair said the aim is to boost the internet service locally and to turn Lebanon into a hub for internet distribution to countries in the region. Once the studies related to the project are completed, a tender will be launched, and the project will be implemented in partnership with other parties. Lebanon will pay part of the cost of the cable project and will later share in the revenues that it will generate from its operation.

Another cable project is scheduled to be launched in 2019. This new undersea cable will replace the Cadmus cable which links Lebanon to Cyprus. The project will be executed in partnership with the Cyprus Telecommunications Authority (Cyta). Besides Cadmos, Lebanon is connected to the outside world by the submarine cable Alexandros, which links the country to France through Cyprus.

According to Choucair, the 4G mobile network now covers 85 percent of the Lebanese territory and will become available in the remaining areas in the coming months. He said that the MoT is working with international companies to test 5G services and assess the potential efficiency.

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