A couple of things: if you ever order a phone from wherever, the alfa and touch sites are pretty much worthless for configuring any internet services. After spending a fruitless half hour trying to configure everything, I found this
site and my connection was configured within a couple of minutes. Since most people don't order a samsung, apple, htc or huawei, the site is seems pretty useful, even for those brands. 2) If/when I order another phone, it will be to family in the UAE (UK and Canada also) so they can bring it over without the current hassle and bs. While the people at the ministry and libanpost were friendly and almost apologetic, it still is a procedural pain. If my sim expires after a couple of months, so be it, I will deal with it. But going back and forth at the beginning is not worth it if you know about it in advance. They sort of sprung it on us as a new year's surprise.
Anyway, happy with my new phone. :)