Bassil unveils study to install high speed fiber-optic Internet cables

Raficoo

The Daily Star wroteBEIRUT: Telecommunication Minister Jebran Bassil disclosed Monday a study to install FTTH, Fiber To The House, in both Hamra street and Achrafieh at a cost of $15 million. Speaking at a news conference, the minister stressed that if the study were approved by the Cabinet, then the project would need 10 months to complete in both areas of Beirut.

FTTH is desirable because it can carry high-speed broadband services integrating voice, data and video, and runs directly to the junction box at the home or building.

Bassil said that FTTH is a very advanced Internet system which was first applied in 1995.

According to Bassil, the initial plan calls for installing the FTTH for 40,000 Internet subscribers in Hamra and 35,000 subscribers in AChrafieh.

The project also involves the installation of a 400 kilometers of fiber-optic cables for both areas of Beirut.

"We are talking about a speed of 70 megabyte speed per second instead of the current two megabytes per second," Bassil said.

He estimated the cost of installing the FTTH to a million subscribers in Lebanon at around $500 million.

"This seems to be a lot of money but the economic benefits are tremendous for Lebanon," Bassil said.

At present, there are close to 100,000 DSL subscribers in Lebanon but experts agree that this Internet service still lags behind many countries of the world, including countries in the Middle East.

Source: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=3&article_id=101418

crazy

I don't live in Hamra, nor Achrafieh... if accepted, it will take 10 month for these two areas.. and how long for other area?

Anyone has more details?

Lebscream

crazy wroteI don't live in Hamra, nor Achrafieh... if accepted, it will take 10 month for these two areas.. and how long for other area?

Anyone has more details?

Same, if accepted, it will take 3-4 years to be in my place or maybe never ..

samer

"We are talking about a speed of 70 megabyte speed per second instead of the current two megabytes per second," Bassil said.

I don't see 16megabits connections anywhere around here :)

teodorgeorgiev

And who has currently 2 Megabytes (=20Mbits) per second (besides you and your mafia) in Lebanon, Mr. Bassil ?

Raficoo

hmm perhaps they thought that MegaBytes per second means MegaBits per second

but even that wouldn't make any sense since i don't see anyone even with a 2mbps connection little alone a 16mbps

BashLogic

15m ????? that is a scam!! someone is trying to get some money into their pockets..

nuclearcat

Money laundering... he know that he didnt complete his previous promisses and noone elect him again, so he try seems to grab money in pocket

"We are talking about a speed of 70 megabyte speed per second instead of the current two megabytes per second," Bassil said.
This just sound as full bullshit.

Nabz

I'm pretty sure he meant 2 megaBITS and 70 megabits per second. HDSL right now gives 2 mbps, and 70 mbps seems reasonable for a fiber connection (Verizon FiOs in the US is 50 mbps...other countries have 100 mbps...so it's within that range).

Personally, I still think it's complete bullshit and nothing more than a political ploy.

Kareem

crap... absolutely crap... And besides... Bassil doesnt even know what he is doing... his plans are based on advises and political propagandas... For people that think that Bassil made huge improvements in the first few months regarding the telecom sector... people, I rarely talk in such an offensive tone... but please go play somewhere else..i dont know... get a life.. bassil sold few golden numbers so that operators could reduce the tariff and charging rates but honestly they where too dumb to celebrate the 1 million customer... Just dial 111 you will know what I mean... sometimes I keep on trying for few hours before being connected.. And when the operator answers.. they say we are sorry but we are working on the problem.. There is a huge load on the network.. YEAH I KNOW THAT .. Operators where not customized to handle such a load and I can guarantee you that because I know what they have and what they are doing exactly... No wonder alfa now is asking people to stop calling and use SMS instead, NOT BECAUSE IT IS CHEAPER but because they cannot really offer a reliable service anymore.. So what Bassil did is that he offered some cash to the Operators so they can reduce the tariff but he did not really care about the service itself..Now that same thing happened to the internet and VISP and whatsoever...Bassil is fooling people just for the sake of election... If he really wants improvements maybe he can join here and have some talk ..at least we do not give a damn about politics.. It is obvious he doesnt know the difference between Bits and Bytes..
Bassil should really start focusing on HOW TO MAKE THINGS BETTER and not HOW TO MAKE THEM CHEAPER...

teodorgeorgiev

Kareem is really right. The prices (as pure numbers) for the Internet access in Lebanon are OK, just the customers need to get
a decent bandwidth/speed for this money. But how this can happen when the government is nor making any improvements, neither
allows someone else to do it.

Not VISP is illegal, the entire government is ILLEGAL. Guess what is the government's main duty - to take care for the citizens, to make
life better, safer and such.

xterm

"Study" and 10 months. Something is fishy here, how long did it take them to activate DSL again ?

BashLogic

I bet you that the budget is devided in the following way,
2mil adminstrative fees and expenses
1mil project coordination
2mil consulting
5mil cabling
2mil hardware investment
3mil marketing and management
10k staffing and training

all that AKA BLLSHT!!!!!!!

crazy

And they say that the french people nag the most...

rolf

every time they increse the bandwidth by 10% they roll out a new technology so that they can pocket install fees (again...)
We will end up with Fiber optic and 1mbps badwidth and 6gb monthly quota... aint that great?

samer

I spoke with a well-connected person (solid credibility) from a group who's lobbying for this project to work. He said that there's an ongoing fight between Ogero and the TRA regarding who's going to get the project going. Furthermore, do not expect anything before the elections. For the moment, this project is not as solid as Gebran makes it sound.

nuclearcat

I'm just amazed why Achrafieh and Hamra. All Lebanon in internet hunger... why not backbone between areas and exchanges? Even LOCAL fiber between and access to them for ISP's can make extreme boost for IT in Lebanon.