Don't you think Carlos Slim Helu should take take the telecommunication in Lebanon instead of MTC and Alfa? At least , he is Lebanese Mexican!.
Give me your Opinions.

This topic is not meant to harm anyone or talk bad about carriers :)
I don't know anything about him but my guess is: Duopoly is better than Monopoly (:
thegodfatherdany wroteDon't you think Carlos Slim Helu should take take the telecommunication in Lebanon instead of MTC and Alfa? At least , he is Lebanese Mexican!.
Give me your Opinions.

This topic is not meant to harm anyone or talk bad about carriers :)
Cool, so if we all agree here he will do it ? Trust me man he doesn't give a damn about us, when he came here he didn't even pay for his hotel fees, the government then did :P And we don't need him.

I just don't understand why people always want the rich, we have enough brains, companies, engineers, and resources to open new communication network. It's not that much costly that it needs a world billionaire to fund it, all we need is to have have an open market in that sector. In the end, a monopoly is a monopoly in all of it's forms whether duopoly or oligopoly, more than one monopolizer does not necessarily mean competition in that market, and competition is exactly what we need between the suppliers to have better services and less fees.
Well said Ayman.

It's all a matter if improvement is INTENDED or not. The rest is resources and man power.
AymanFarhat, WHAT are you talking about ?? Carlos Slim donates millions to Lebanon. We know him from family and friends, and trust me, he really wants to help out Lebanon. "when he came here he didn't even pay for his hotel fees, the government then did" are you serious ?? He is the richest man on earth, don't be so naive. When he had a meeting with the company my father works at, he explained all the projects he has in mind but guess who didn't allow him: our lovely government. The government felt like he would take too many shares for his name so they didn't agree.
Image he takes over the telecommunication in Lebanon, I think we would be a rank A internet country overnight. I agree with Monkey D. Luffy that Duopoly is better than Monopoly, but both Alfa and MTC have already monopolized the market, its not like we have so many choices. I know what AymanFarhat meant by we need engineers etc.. but we need someone generous to fund us, because if you haven't noticed, we are still standing from where we started.
It has been brought up in official circles already http://www.telecomforlebanon.org/

I don't think it is a matter of if they want to, IMO it is whether they are able to. The laws in this country aren't really liberalized when it comes to telecommunications sector--It is Ogero--PERIOD. There was an article in the daily star lately saying how companies have been frustrated by months of delays and overcharges by 1400% in addition to other problems. The same applies to EDL. I know of a rich Lebanese living in Qatar who wanted to build a 1200 MW power plant here, but the law wouldn't allow him (and neither would the government). Like Ogero, EDL is a monopoly.

Bottom line, change the laws and people will invest. The government shouldn't have to shoulder all of this responsibility because as has been mentioned, there are a lot of smart capable people and businesses here and they can do the job quicker, more efficiently and for a lot lower cost to the consumer than the government can. On top of that, for such a little country, Lebanon has some of the wealthiest diaspora in the world and many want to invest here, if they can.

Deregulate, not overregulate.
@AkDov, I personally didn't hear about his contributions yet, if they exist it would be cool. And the story that the government paid for all the fees of his stay in Lebanon is true.
AkDoV wroteImage he takes over the telecommunication in Lebanon, I think we would be a rank A internet country overnight.
This is technically impossible no matter how much money you have, I know you don't mean it literally.
AkDoV wroteHe is the richest man on earth, don't be so naive.
Even if he is the richest man on earth, should we give him control of the sector because of that? We don't need his money if we create a clean, less corrupt government and let our public sector get off it's ass and work. There is enough resources and potential in our country, it would be way better if there was a new public policy rather than have a guy from outside come and start creating monopolies. Plus we don't need that much money to be able to build our telecom sector.
AkDoV wrotebut we need someone generous to fund us, because if you haven't noticed, we are still standing from where we started.
Generous? for God's sake man he is a big business man! Business people are never generous because they like you or like their country, they never ever do something if the cost outweighs the benefits. So please don't make it sound like he is our hero/savior and all that stuff we heard all over the years, if he invests here it would be for the sake of making profit for himself as a 1st priority.
AkDoV wroteI agree with Monkey D. Luffy that Duopoly is better than Monopoly, but both Alfa and MTC have already monopolized the market, its not like we have so many choices.
Why on earth would we accept any forms of monopoly anyway? No Duopoly is NOT better than Monopoly both suck. Any monopolizer should not be allowed by the people even if it was Carlos Slim, who is he in the end to be a monopolizer on us? Instead of praising a new duopoly led by him, why don't we put our efforts in pressing on the government to free that sector and let the best companies survive the competition.

Only a free market led by supply and demand will guarantee advance in technology and low prices in the telecom field regardless who invests in it, whether Carlos Slim or Chuck Norris the most competitive could then survive.
xazbrat wroteBottom line, change the laws and people will invest.
100%
AymanFarhat, you are a true Lebanese, don't get me wrong, I'm on your side. I understand where you're going with this. The thing is, this subject is very sensitive due to political issues. I'll give an example, its is real, but I will not include names; a Lebanese family offered to start recycling in Lebanon a few years back, they were ready to pay all funds, from industry to local workers, but in return it becomes their business. Sounds logical doesn't it? Well the government did not give them the legal papers to start such a company because they would not be included. We could of had a recycling industry in Lebanon, but we don't because the government wants to keep everything monopolized and under its control.
When I wrote earlier saying that I do prefer Carlos Slim over our own Telecom now, is because he IS a business man and from a personal knowledge I know he is generous. What we need in Lebanon is variety. Less power for few, and more for everyone. I believe, from what I have seen from Mexico, that Lebanon could become a better country if Carlos Slim takes over Telecom.
I will say this again, Carlos Slim left Lebanon sad and ashamed because of how it is run. I would never want to be monopolized, but look around you, we already are and always have been.
@AkDoV, I agree with you and I am against any monopoly especially that of the government. I am not against Carlos Slim as an investor or anyone else as long as we have a free market with no monopoly. My point is regardless of who is the investor is, monopoly or any of its types is bad in general.

What we don't want to end up having is a monopolizer who is backed and supported by the government and has relations where different legislations can be tuned for his/her business interests. We had this actually in Lebanon and we still have it, there are many private monopolizers here with direct relation with government officials who themselves can be shareholders in it and could use their legislative power. This is not just monopoly but also corruption.

Actually I doubt that Carlos Slim would invest in market with a system like that, for sure he would prefer a free market for investing in where he can then make good use of his huge capital on the competitive level. He himself may not agree to be a monopolizer because he understands what it means to be in a monopoly position and how it may affect his company for the long run.
I believe, from what I have seen from Mexico, that Lebanon could become a better country if Carlos Slim takes over Telecom.
Let him take telecom but not through private allowance from the government while blocking other investors, let him invest in a free market and if his company is good enough he will take it eventually.

Bottom line, lets try to work on freeing these sectors and let the most competitive investor win (or at least be in the lead) :)