Nicolas Sehnaoui: November 2012 Update.
Nicolas Sehnaoui wrote Many of you heard of our opening of the new Fiber Optics center in Beirut but asked me to explain more about it.

Tonight I'd like to take a moment and tell you more about this new achievement and where it falls in our national Fiber Optics Plan.

It's the Network Operation Control NOC that we opened simultaneously with the activation of the first Fiber Optic Ring of Greater Beirut Area linking 26 co's.

It is situated in Nahr Area and will allow teams to monitor and control the Fiber Optics network that is being installed all over Lebanon.

The first users to benefit from this 1st Ring in a few months will be the Heavy Users like Educational, Medical and Governmental Institutions.

These Heavy Users will have access to a speed 10 to 20 times faster than current DSL.

Remaining 12 rings will be activated from now till April 2013 and they will connect around 300 Centrales by a strong network of Fiber Optics.

When all Rings are active we will immediatly start equipping villages where there is currently no DSL with the proper equipment.

FTTH (Fiber to the Home) will connect the Citizens directly to this Fiber Optics network and will allow for a totally new level of connectivity.

FTTH tender will be launched on Jan/Feb 2013 to allow a quick Implementation kick off.
2 months later
Minister Sehnaoui (Facebook) - Expectations for 2013:
Minister Sehnaoui wrote في السنة ٢٠١٣ أتوقع ان نأخذ القطاع إلى مستوى القرن ٢١، مع ١٠ خطوات ملموسة:

توقع ٢٠١٣ # 1 - تحسين نوعية الجيل الثالث 3G مع تنفيذ برنامج Deep Indoor Expansion

توقع ٢٠١٣ # 2 – نشر الجيل الرابع 4G في المدن الرئيسية

توقع ٢٠١٣ # 3 – اطلاق مناقصة مشروع الألياف إلى المنازل (FTTH)، وبدء ربط المستخدمين بشبكة الألياف البصرية

توقع ٢٠١٣ # 4 - تجهيز ما تبقى من السنترالات الـ 130 بالقدرة على بيع خدمات الانتنت السريع DSL

توقع ٢٠١٣ # 5 - توفير تكنولوجيا VDSL ووضع نظام التعرفة الخاص بها، وهي تتيح لـ 75% من المشتركين الذين يقطنون او يعملون في اماكن يقل بعدها عن السنترالات عن الكيلومترين، الحصول على سرعات أعلى.

توقع ٢٠١٣ # 6 - إطلاق مناقصة دولية لعقدي إدارة شركتي الخليوي

توقع ٢٠١٣ # 7 - وضع الصيغة النهائية مع قبرص لشراء 700 جيغابيت على الكابل الكسندروس

توقع ٢٠١٣ # 8 - زيادة القدرة الاستهلاكية لمشتركي الجيل الثالث 3G، بواقع مرتين وبالسعر نفسه

توقع ٢٠١٣ # 9 - بدء ربط المشتركين ذات الاستخدام العالي Heavy Users بشبكة الألياف البصرية

توقع ٢٠١٣ # 10 - نشر الـ active cabinets التي تتيح لـ 25٪ من المشتركين الذين يقطنون او يعملون في اماكن تبعد اكثر من كيلومترين عن السنترال، الاستحصال على الانترنت السريع DSL بالسرعة العادية
2 months later
Minister Sehnaoui (Facebook) - Good News and Announcements:
Minister Sehnaoui wrote - Lebanon purchased 24% of Alexandros submarine cable connecting Cyprus with France.

This agreement opens up for Lebanon an additional 700 Gbps capacity.

This agreement provides Lebanon with international connectivity redundancy.
23 days later
The Daily Star - Lebanon Internet speed to rise to 20 megabits per second
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Internet connection speeds could leap to 20 megabits per second within the next three months, the chairman of a major ISP told The Daily Star, as the country climbed 10 places on a global Internet speed ranking.

Maroun Chammas, chairman of IDM, said the upgrade would result from several developments, including additional international capacity purchased recently by Lebanon, and the gradually expanding fiber optics infrastructure.

“Within months we will be able to reach 20 Mbps and, in the near future, the speeds will go up even higher in the future ... albeit if all the initiatives take place in a timely way,” he said.
xazbrat wroteDaily Star-- Sehnaoui: Further Internet bandwidth in coming weeks
BEIRUT: Telecommunications Minister Nicolas Sehnaoui announced Tuesday plans to boost the country’s high-speed Internet capacity to 33Gbit/s and said he submitted to Cabinet plans to reduce the charges of extra consumption on DSL usage.

Sehnaoui, who spoke at Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK), said Internet capacity had been upgraded substantially since his taking office and unveiled further plans to boost capacity by 10Gbit/s from the present 23Gbit/s.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Business/Lebanon/2013/Apr-03/212359-lebanon-internet-speed-to-rise-to-20-megabits-per-second.ashx
4 months later
27/07/2013
Telecom Minister Nicolas Sehnaoui said that more than half of Lebanon’s telephone substations were linked to a long-awaited fiber-optics network, and vowed to extend coverage to the remaining areas within the next six months. “After two years of work, the fiber optics network is ready in 170 telephone areas, and we sent a letter to [state-run telephone land line operator] OGERO to detail their financial and technical requirements to expand it to the remaining areas, which do not yet have DSL,” he said.

The minister said that around six months were needed before some 500,000 households in 541 towns covered by 118 stations would benefit from the expansion of the network.

“The project is a part of balanced development … and no Lebanese will be without fast Internet by the end of the year,” Sehnaoui said.

Average Internet speed in Lebanon stands currently at 2.62 Mbps.
Source
FTTH is almost here, few months away hopefully!
3 months later
Nicolas Rouhana (Spokesperson of BeirutIX) - 20 November 2013
What a pretty sight.. Finally fiber to @BeirutIX @berytech ;) #Internet #eXchange #Lebanon cc @NicolaSehnaoui
Source
4 months later
The Daily Star - Harb seeks better deal for Lebanese on cellphone bills

Two relevant statements from the article:
The minister intends to hold a news conference next Wednesday to unveil his plans for the sector.
Sources said that Harb plans to increase the speed of the Internet in Lebanon, which is among the slowest in the world.
ministryinfo on 24 March, 2014. - View

وزير الإتصالات سيُعلن في مؤتمر صحافي الأسبوع المقبل خفض تعرفة المكالمات الهاتفية العادية والخلوية وتسريع الإنترنت .
From the minister's press conference on 26 March, 2014 - View

Nothing specific about internet speed increases, however this was stated:

تحسين الخدمات للمواطنين يتضمن دراسة إمكانية حزمة أنترنت دون سقف ودون حدود للإستهلاك، بحيث يستفيد منها حوالي /330,000/ مشترك أنترنت حالياً
20 days later
From the minister's Twitter - View


From his Facebook - View

Lebanon’s Telecom Minister in A Hurry to Ring the Changes - View
(...)
“I hope to get higher [internet] speed within a month. The fiber optic cable is already done. In a month we’ll have results.”
(...)
Mr. Harb said his next project is to work on a lump sum monthly payment for Lebanese internet subscribers, allowing unlimited online sessions (rather than the current system in which they pay for their time spent online), similar to what has been available in the West for the past 20 years.
(...)
Mr. Harb also acknowledges that he probably won’t accomplish nearly as much as he wants during his short allotted time at his post. “I’d like to implement Law 431.”
a month later
Minister's new DSL plans - View

There is alot of details considering the internet and cellphone talk cost cuts, however this table at the end of the article shows the old and new proposed DSL plans

a month later
http://www.executive-magazine.com/economics-policy/internet-unchained-imewe-full-capacity
Will speeds really jump?
The new packages promise connection speeds starting at 2 Mb/s and going as high as over 8 Mb/s, according to a press conference the ministry held in late May. For around 30 percent of the 300,000 households with fixed line broadband connections, such speeds are not even possible.
After years of delay, Lebanon finally has all of its central offices connected by fiber optic cables, Chebaro says. This means the country now has a network backbone capable of ultra-high speeds. The project, announced in October 2010, was initially valued at $40 million.
(…)
2 months later
The Daily Star - Harb vows to boost Internet speeds
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s telecommunications minister promised to boost the average Internet connection speed across the country in “a couple of months” after the implementation of a set of measures aimed at regulating the sector.
17 days later
7 days later
The Daily Star - Harb unveils plan to upgrade broadband
BEIRUT: Telecommunications Minister Boutros Harb Friday unveiled a new strategy to modernize and upgrade the fiber optics network in order to increase the Internet speed.
Speaking at a news conference at the Telecommunications Ministry, the minister said the project involves replacing the current copper network with fiber optics cables. Eventually these will reach all houses, residential units, offices, buildings and sidewalks.
9 months later
Minister Boutros Harb (Twitter) - May 27 Interview
أفهم صرخة الناس وشكاويهم بسبب الإنترنت والإتصالات. ولست قديسا لأقوم بالعجائب لكن أعتمد خطة تناسب الناس كي يصل الإنترنت لكل المناطق
Boutros HARB @Harb_Boutros May 27

الخطة الاستراتيجية للاتصالات ستطرح خلال الاسبوعين المقبلين
Boutros HARB @Harb_Boutros May 27

الخطة التي سنطرحها لتحسين قطاع الاتصالات هي خطة جدية تمتد على خمس سنوات تستند على التخطيط وليس على العمل العشوائي
Boutros HARB @Harb_Boutros May 27
Quick translation:
I understand the cry of the people and their complaints because of the Internet and telecommunications. And I'm not a saint of wonders but adopted a plan suit up people to the Internet for all regions
Boutros HARBHarb_Boutros May 27

Strategic Plan for Communications will be addressed during the next two weeks
Boutros HARBHarb_Boutros May 27

The plan, which will put it to improve communications sector is serious plan extends over five years based on the planning, not the random work
Boutros HARBHarb_Boutros May 27
2 months later