We are not asking for magical solutions, nor for the impossible. The simplest request is to demand answers regarding what the increase in telecommunications tariffs means, especially when accompanied by a significant decline in services, reaching a point of near absence that is very disturbing. As with everything, any price increase should come with an improvement in the level and quality of services, as a matter of fairness and sound management. However, the telecommunications crisis in Lebanon appears to be resistant to any solution, causing losses to citizens on multiple fronts.
The more detailed the official explanations become, the more public outrage grows, as they are incapable of providing any satisfactory answer or a clear timeline for any tangible change. Hence, we have the right to know... why this continuous collapse persists, even with tariff increases affecting our pockets? And until when?
A knowledgeable source on telecommunications issues clarified that "the primary problem causing the significant collapse in the telecommunications sector is weak electricity supply, which places the sector in a highly difficult situation, experiencing both weakness and complete service interruptions." They pointed out in an interview with "Akhbar Al-Yawm" that "many challenges beset this sector, particularly regarding infrastructure and maintenance work, especially since mobile companies have not paid the required rents to building owners where they have focused their stations for a long time. The accumulated rents have become substantial, prompting building owners to prevent the companies’ maintenance teams from performing their tasks. This situation is growing, contributing further to the deterioration of service quality."
The source indicated that "strikes and demands for salary increases from workers in this sector are another issue. These demands are not unjustifiable to a considerable degree, especially since some of these workers receive a portion of their salaries in fresh dollars. Furthermore, most of these workers also receive the highest wages compared to all other sectors in the country."
They emphasized that "the overall circumstances confirm that the root solution to the telecommunications sector's crisis lies not in increasing tariffs, but in assessing the surplus employees and the number of workers in this sector. Additionally, it is necessary to acknowledge the lack of healthy competition (in this sector), in terms of both service increases and quality among mobile companies, which necessitates planning for their merger into a single company. The stations themselves do not require more than 1,600 at most, which allows for the sale of the surplus, and organizing greater private sector involvement in telecommunications, instead of merely increasing tariffs on citizens."
They concluded: "There is no need for foreign donations, such as solar panels, because such donations will not solve the problem. If one state or another provides 50 or 100 solar panels, it will not have any impact, especially since we have about 2,800 cellular network stations that need extensive work on various levels. Rehabilitating this sector does not depend on grants or aid but requires adopting another policy that recognizes the necessity of alleviating the burden on citizens for services they do not benefit from, and taking radical steps within the sector itself, no matter how difficult."
