Telecommunications: Hands-on or Hands-off? That’s the question on the table of the 9th Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR) and the 2nd Global Industry Leaders Forum (GILF). The forum groups all the major players in the industry. This year it’s taking place in Lebanon, a country where privatization is proving to be a rather complicated endeavor.

There are 4.6 billion mobile phone users in the world today and more than a quarter of the world’s population is using the Internet through 25.9 billion Internet subscriptions. Telecoms are one of the fastest growing industries in the world and regulating the market is one of the main challenges for the public and private sectors. “Hands-on or Hands-off? Stimulating growth through effective ICT regulations” is the theme of the 9th Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR) and the 2nd Global Industry Leaders Forum (GILF). The yearly event, taking place this time in Lebanon from November 9th to November 12, groups more than 600 telecommunications regulators, policy makers and service providers representing the both public and private sectors in more than 97 countries. It is jointly organized by the Telecommunications Development Bureau (BDT) of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA). 

Kamal Shehade, Chairman of TRA and Chairman of the Global Symposium for Regulators, Sami al-Bashir, Director of the Bureau of Development of Telecommunications (BDT) and Saad el-Barrak, Chairman on GILF and CEO of Zain were among those who inaugurated the forum under the patronage of President of the Republic Michel Suleiman. The yearly event is meant to act as a dialogue platform between heads of national regulatory committees from developed and developing countries. There are indeed harsh inequalities between countries: in Finland, a high speed connection is now a legal right whereas Lebanon is lagging far behind as Internet remains an expensive and low performance service. 

Mobile telephony: a success story? 

On the other hand, the introduction of mobile telephony is considered to be quite a success in the Arab world but here again, Lebanon remains the lagging exception, with a relatively low mobile cellular penetration rate of 34% at the end of 2008 according to ITU. The country is well below the Arab States’ average of 62% and below Jordan’s 87%. To improve the situation, all seem to agree that privatization is the way to go. On the Lebanese level, Shehade explains the importance of first reaching an agreement between the Ministry of Telecommunications and the RTA on the modalities of the privatization process. He argues that the plan proposed by the Ministry so far, goes against decree 431 which states the conditions for the use of public properties. 

Shehade also insisted on the importance of liberating the international and national broadband in Lebanon stating “Despite the turbulent political conditions prevailing in the country, the TRA has made significant progress in a very short time spa. It is now ready to move ahead and liberalize mobile, international and the remaining bottlenecks to broadband communication services (namely, the core and metro networks) in 2010.” He adds “Lebanon can only have a flourishing economy if the telecom sector is liberated and competitive”. Competitively and capitalism are the backbone of Lebanese economy and, as Barrak point out, “The development of telecommunications is very important for the economic development of a country”. However, politicians still hold the keys to a market longing to meet the expectations of its potential. 

It must be said that within the Arab States, Lebanon stands out for its relatively high level of fixed broadband penetration, which stood at over 5% by end 2008. Indeed, the country has the fourth highest fixed broadband penetration, after Bahrain (16%), UAE (12%), and Qatar (8%). While Lebanon does well compared to its regional counterparts, its fixed broadband penetration still lies below the world’s average of 6%. Basheer stresses on the importance of political will and told he is currently working with Arab League General Secretary Amr Moussa, on opening the Arab market to investors just like African leaders managed to agree to open the market in their countries. He believes that leaders are mature for that now, and that, like for the mobile phone sector, opening the market to investors specialized in broadband will be a success. Anyway, he says. “Internet is an important matter and a necessity”.