On Wednesday, "Touch" company published the new communication prices, which will take effect starting July 1. According to the price table published on the official website, the costs for calls, text messages, and internet bundles for prepaid and fixed lines are as follows:
- **Prepaid Lines:**
- Call Minute: From $0.25 to $0.08.
- Text Message: From $0.05 to $0.02.
- **Prepaid Cards:**
- 10-day Card: $3.79
- 30-day Card: $4.5
- 30-day Card (includes 30 free minutes): $7.58
- 60-day Card: $15.15
- 90-day Card: $22.73
- 365-day Card (one year): $77.28
- **Fixed Lines:**
- Call Minute: From $0.11 to $0.04.
- Text Message: From $0.05 to $0.02.
- **Internet:**
- 500 MB: From $10 to $3.5.
- 1.75 GB: From $19 to $6.
- 6 GB: From $26 to $8.5.
- 10 GB: From $33 to $11.
**Note:** The new prices are calculated according to the Sayrafa platform, whereas they were previously calculated based on the official rate (1,514.5). The Cabinet approved the increase in communication prices during its last session, citing the need to preserve the sector, which has seen its revenues drop to record lows following the collapse of the national currency. The methodology adopted for determining the new prices involves dividing the old prices by three and then multiplying them by the exchange rate of the Sayrafa platform.
For example, the cost of a call minute for prepaid lines in Lebanese pounds was previously calculated as follows: $0.25 * 1,514.5 (official rate) = 37.8 Lebanese pounds. Starting from July 1, it will be calculated as: $0.08 * 24,600 (Sayrafa platform) = 1,968 Lebanese pounds.
