06 December 2021
Lebanon’s worsening financial crisis is so close to the brink for the country’s telecoms sector, with the national Parliamentary Media and Communications Committee warning that the nation’s networks are on the brink of collapse.
According to local reports, state-run telcos only have enough diesel in storage to keep networks operating for a few days.
“The quantity of diesel at Lebanon’s state-owned Touch and Alfa mobile companies and the state-run telecommunications company Ogero, which operates fixed lines and fixed internet, is enough to run for only a few days, otherwise telecom services will crumble,” the committee said.
In September, Lebanese telcos started to show signs of struggle, with fixed-line operator Ogero being forced to shut down services in parts of the country temporarily due to lack of fuel.
“Our services have stopped temporarily with the range of the Barouk, Halba and Qoubayat centres until we are resupplied with diesel fuel,” the company said in a statement.
Lebanon’s financial crisis dates back to 2019 and was then exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic of 2020.