Elie Naaman - From the radio (not verified)
Elie Naaman wroteThe decree was passed during yesterday's meeting, but according to what I heard on the radio from mr. sehnawi himself, the prices will be live by the end of september, but the new packages will remain pending the electricity shit...
Edit: questions being asked on Sehnaoui's wall
I guess you can kiss this chart goodbye unless this mess gets cleared up soon
Le Commerce du Levant - Internet : le gouvernement décide d’une baisse tarifaire moyenne de 80%
(Translated) The Cabinet Tuesday approved a decree to reduce average tariffs by 80% of the data in Lebanon, including the Internet, but also the dedicated lines (leased lines) used by businesses.

The new grid established by the Department of Telecom aims to correct the aberrations of Lebanon tariff were one of the most expensive countries in the world on the Internet. It shall come into force on the first day of the month following the publication of the decree in the Official Journal is maximum in early October.
TerraNet - DSL Reduced and Affordable Prices / Packages
TerraNet, the first to introduce ‘unlimited-night-traffic’ and ‘double-the-speed’ will very soon offer all customers higher speeds and reduced prices. Of course, we are always pleased to receive DSL applications from new customers wanting to benefit from our special offers.

Stay tuned for more details. We’ll keep you posted. For more info please call 1293.
The Daily Star – Lebanese to enjoy faster and cheaper Internet
BEIRUT: Internet users are poised to see an 80 percent decrease in prices and a 4 to 8 times increase in speeds, a decree signed by the Council of Ministers stipulated Tuesday night.
L'Orient le Jour - Baisse des tarifs Internet : Marwan Hamadé rappelle les progrès réalisés sous son mandat
L’ancien ministre des Télécommunications, Marwan Hamadé, a réagi hier au vote mardi du décret portant sur la baisse des tarifs Internet, critiquant de manière à peine voilée l’exploitation médiatique par le ministre actuel des Télécoms, Nicolas Sehanoui, de ce qu’il considère être comme le fruit d’années d’efforts menés notamment par son équipe sous le gouvernement de l’ancien Premier ministre, Fouad Siniora.
Cedarcom - Speculations by Cedarcom about the future of Lebanese internet
According to Telecom Ministry sources, the cost price to the ministry does not exceed $30/month. So either price the E1 at $30 or break up the monopoly and allow serious investments in alternative cables by private operators. Price fluctuation would then be determined by the old, yet valid, “supply and demand” practice.
Tayyar - DSL Monthly Pricing Table [PDF]
Implementing the new tariff and the new system will take place at the end of the month in which this decree will be published in the “journal officiel”
The Daily Star - Sehnaoui: Lebanese Internet to be world-leading
After that, 3G will make phased forays into the rest of Lebanon’s mobile phone sector. It’s expected that the technology will increase Internet penetration rates by about 30 percent.
The new DSL package is also expected to raise penetration rates by about 40 percent.
IDM - Anouncement
We are pleased to inform you that following the governments decision
to improve internet service in Lebanon, IDM is looking forward to this
positive change and will gradually implement major improvements
starting October 1st, 2011.
Cedarcom News – First step on a 10-mile journey
So is this enough? Do we lack initiative, investments, intelligence, or willingness to rank among the top 10 fastest countries like Lithuania (31 Mbps), South Korea (30 Mbps), Sweden (23.9 Mbps), Romania (23.8 Mbps), the Netherlands (23.7 Mbps), Latvia (23.7 Mbps), Switzerland (20.4 Mbps), Bulgaria (19.4 Mbps), Andorra (19 Mbps), or Singapore (18.5 Mbps)?
8 days later
Nicolas Sehnaoui - Decree Update
Due to Prime Minister Mikati’s travel plan he signed the decree on Tuesday, so with the time it needs to go to the President be signed by him and be sent to the Official Gazette, it won’t make it before this Thursday’s issue. It will most certainly be issued in next Thursday’s official gazette issue. So the implementation will be on 1st of October for all Lebanese users.
Now Lebanon - High Speeds Ahead
While the decree that lowered Internet prices and increased download speeds, passed last month by cabinet, has still not been published in the Official Gazette, the government pamphlet that announces official business, the Ministry of Telecommunications and the private sector are confident new Internet packages will be on offer starting October 1.
and this is new
The new decree also changed the way caps are calculated, Hayek and Farhat said. In the past, a 2GB cap meant users could upload 2GB and download 2GB each month (any extra uploading or downloading came with an additional fee per GB). When the decree is implemented, however, caps (which are set at 4GB, 10GB, 20GB, 25GB and 30GB) will represent a total for uploading and downloading. Most users download far more than they upload. Farhat argued that under the current system, most users are wasting much of their upload cap.
Nicolas Sehnaoui - Decree Update
Decree Update: The Decree was signed by the Prime Minister and the President and is now on its way to the Official Gazette! If everything goes as planned it should be printed in Thursday's issue. One step closer; we will keep you posted!
8 days later
Plus961.com – Here’s to launching the 3G service in Lebanon!
As you can see, download is @ 1.7Mbps which is superb compared to the current internet speeds, while upload is varying between 0.11 and 0.22Mbps. Ping is of course higher that it is supposed to be, and I hope it’ll improve soon. Note that I was in Beirut central district at the time of this test, and I guess speed might vary depending on your location.
4 days later
The Daily Star - 4,000 lucky Lebanese test-drive faster 3G Internet technology
BEIRUT: A lucky 4,000 Lebanese smart-phone users are getting busy exploring the benefits of 3G four days into its long-awaited pilot launch.

“I’ve made more than 7 [Voice-over IP] calls that were international since I got 3G. The connection was excellent,” said Abir Ghattas, one of the founders of youth-powered movement for faster and cheaper Internet, Ontornet.

Ghattas was one of two Ontornet members to be handpicked by GSM-providers MTC touch and Alfa for 3G’s pilot study. She’s sampling the bolstered speeds this month for free.

Telecoms Minister Nicholas Sehnaoui marked Lebanon’s 3G debut this Tuesday at USJ, where the names of some 50 university students who would be part of the pilot project were picked out of a glass box. A select few business-people and civil society members are also enjoying 3G this month.
Daily Star --Lebanese shoppers log on to e-commerce (E-commerce related)
BEIRUT: Despite the country’s notoriously slow and insecure Internet, businesses in Lebanon have begun to tap into a demand for online shopping, fueled by social media networking and a newfound consumer confidence in the safety of credit card purchasing.

“We saw the wave, and we decided to ride it at the right moment,” says Haytham El-Khoja, the co-founder of Mizalla, a Lebanese website set up two months ago that advertises itself as the region’s first online mall.

While well-established international companies have been available in the country for some time, local businesses have remained wary of branching into the market, perhaps put off by consumers’ mistrust of online credit card security, the country’s poor Internet and its lackadaisical approach to formal addresses.