The Ministry of Telecoms (MoT) said it is not being able to improve local Internet speeds due to a disagreement with Ogero’s administration. The MoT said it has been unable to give out licenses for leased international Internet lines (E1) so far, which is the main reason behind slow connections. It said 1,216 E1 license requests were submitted in the last six months, but Ogero's ban on E1 lines has prevented it from granting licenses to Internet Service Providers (ISPs). ISPs lease E1 Internet capacity from the government. These lines are connected to the submarine Internet cables, Cadmos and IMEWE. Local ISPs are leasing download capacities from international satellites to make up for the E1 shortage, said Thérèse Atallah, General Manager at IDM, the largest local ISP. “These extra capacities cost us between $800 and $900 per connection per month when we could be leasing the same capacity (2 Mbps) from the local E1 for $420,” she said. Khairallah said the E1 shortage is preventing ISPs from offering satisfactory Internet services to customers. “Without more E1 lines we cannot expand our networks to cover more users either,” she said. Local users are currently able to only use 25 percent of the optimal Internet speed. Khairallah said: “If this situation is prolonged, our clients might start turning to Ogero for Internet service.”  According to Khairallah, the current circumstances negatively affect the MoT’s revenues, as the Ministry is not able to generate revenue from leasing extra Internet capacity.  As per MoT figures, lost revenue due to the inability to lease additional E1 lines totals around $500,000 each month.

Reported by Rana Freifer