Marwan Hayek, Chairman and CEO of Alfa Lebanon

Lebanon benefits from 3G connection since last year. The challenges that the Lebanese telecom sector faces today are related to infrastructure in Lebanon which is still not up to date. Also, the ICT sector in Lebanon lacks a strong telecom regulator.

Imad Tarabay, Chairman and CEO of Cedarcom

Lebanon is unique when it comes to the internet. It was one of the first countries in the region to have internet back in 1992. Lebanon internet market picked up at a very fast rate and then the growth levelled off. Recently, internet in Lebanon is back on the tracks mostly driven by initiatives from the Ministry of Telecom of Lebanon. There is much more we can still do, says Cedarcom.

Lebanon Telecom, Telecommunication Regulatory Authority, Chairman and CEO, Dr Kamal Shehadi

The Lebanese telecom market today has seven licensed Wireless Service providers, offering a wide range of technologies, including WiMax and others.  We also have two mobile operators as you know and they’re in the process of upgrading their networks.

Lebanon Telecom, Alfa Mobile, Chairman and CEO, Marwan Hayek

There is always room in the market to have another mobile operator.  However, when the three operators belong to the same owner it defeats the purpose.  The purpose of launching a new operator is to put pressure on the existing operators, from a competitive point of view: in order to drop prices, improve services.  Launching a new operator would not add any value to the current setup in Lebanon.

Lebanon ICT Development, Cable One and Terranet , General Manager, Khaldoun Farhat

The prospects for Lebanon ICT development and broadband development will remain good in Lebanon. Over the past 4-5 years we have seen growth in Lebanon ICT sector of around 15-20% and this has been restricted by the unavailability of the basic ingredients for internet-international capacity and availability of access lines in Lebanon ICT sector.  If these restrictions were moved, these ingredients present, and reform took place, we could easily see 40-50% growth in the telecom sector .

IT Outsourcing in the Middle East , NAVLINK, Co-President, Georges Chammas

NAVLINK has a unique approach to the needs of our customers.  We have a Solutions Center which is staffed with experts from various fields. Our Solutions Center has the ability to digest all the new technologies and listen to what our customers require.  Our customers are moving more and more towards  IT outsourcing in the Middle East.  The trend to IT outsourcing in the Middle East, IT services and infrastructure is reaching this part of the world.