Last March, Ali Farhat’s landline was disconnected after an Israeli strike hit his neighborhood in the town of Bar’ashit, South Lebanon.
Farhat told SMEX that his landline was still not functional despite informing the country’s official telecom provider, Ogero. People living in the south have been trying to contact Ogero to repair damaged services, but the company says it is unable to fix pending issues due to security concerns and employee salary cuts. Some residents even offered Ogero employees money in exchange for performing the necessary repairs.
“Malfunctions are not only in Ogero’s system but in cellphone lines—network shutdowns are reaching two hours daily. I personally pay around USD 14 to 25 for mobile data and home internet to a private company, but I still face disruptions.”
Difficulty contacting emergency response teams
Lebanese authorities prioritize ensuring contact with relief organizations and the Red Cross in emergencies, as reflected in the ministry’s telecommunications sector emergency plan.
The risk of communications shutdowns is high near bombed areas. Farhat said that when an Israeli airstrike targeted Bar’ashit on the first of July, it took 20 minutes for people to contact and reach relief teams.
“The strikes have not materially impacted the Red Cross network, but the real setback is having a reliable GPS connection to reach relief teams in hit locations,” Bint Jbeil Red Cross Official Mahmoud Makki told SMEX. “This is often delayed by network jamming.”
“As for mobile networks, they are almost completely out of service because Touch and Alfa’s maintenance teams cannot repair private stations, especially after a Touch employee was martyred by an Israeli airstrike. The two companies are not even responding to repair requests in areas that are relatively safe,” continued Makki.
Last July, the Ministry of Telecommunications announced it had filed a complaint with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding Israeli GPS jamming. The complaint was referred to the United Nations for consideration.
Ogero lines in the south have been down for six months
Ali Chehab, President of Bar’ashit Municipality, told SMEX that for the past six months, most towns by the southern border have been struggling in the absence of Ogero services, with no response from repair teams which are “supposed to be always on call and ready.”
“We buy telecom services for an expensive price ranging between USD 7 and 20 per month, knowing that 80% of this fee will go to waste,” added Chehab. He wonders whether “residents should be exempt from telecom charges and monthly subscriptions during times of war.”
Alfa and Touch have no excuse for refraining from doing their job. According to the municipality’s president, several southern towns are relatively safe, and performing repairs can help the residents. He added that municipal staff is ready to “accompany repair teams, help them, and protect them while on duty.”
“The right to communicate and access the internet is overlooked, although it is essential for people who work remotely and pay between USD 30 and 50 each month in vain.”
This issue is not exclusive to towns on the southern border. Data collected by SMEX shows villages east of Sidon experienced malfunctions and shutdowns in Ogero services for a week in mid-July.
Despite this, Ogero General Director Imad Kreidieh stated that “the war has not significantly affected Ogero networks in the South because the infrastructure is underground.”
SMEX tried to contact Kreidieh to clarify his statement but did not receive an answer.
Telecom ministry’s contradictory statements
Kreidieh’s statements seem to contradict each other. He tweeted that Lebanon is at risk of “gradual suspension of maintenance and operation of the national network due to the depletion of funds and not receiving the funds allocated to telecoms in the 2024 Budget.”
At the same time, SMEX sources from within Touch assure that financial coverage is available and that there will be no such financial crisis because the situation of Touch and Alfa differs from that of Ogero.
“There should be no fear about services getting disconnected, but we need to warn of the risks of interruption of Ogero’s central services.”
Our sources at Alfa also reported that the sector is financially stable and can secure the credit necessary for service continuity.
Minister of Telecommunications Johnny Corm “reassured” the public in a press talk that “there is no need to fear an internet shutdown in Lebanon. The ministry will receive the maintenance money at the last minute, and the main issue lies in the adopted mechanism.”
Residents of the south demand access to the network
Nine months have passed since the beginning of the Israeli aggression on Lebanon, which has imposed significant lifestyle, residence, and job changes on the inhabitants of the South.
After October 2023, Firas Fares, a permanent resident of the southern town of Houla, became a “citizen journalist,” providing media outlets and journalists with information and pictures. Fares told SMEX that “the communications and internet networks have been down for almost three weeks.”
“It’s very hard to reach citizens affected by air strikes or relief teams. It takes us around half an hour to verify data on the ground due to poor services.”
“We pay between USD 14 and 20 per month for mobile data, in addition to home internet fees, although it is always down due to long hours of electricity blackouts and lack of repairs.”
Fares added that Alfa and Touch have yet to inform people why the communications remain down.
“We are at risk of being disconnected from the world,” Fares concludes.
The two mobile network operators and Ogero failed to fulfill the roles assigned to them under the emergency plan. Four Touch stations were damaged by Israeli airstrikes on South Lebanon, according to our sources at Touch.
“We couldn’t carry out the repairs because of the dangerous security situation.” Alfa had six damaged stations, two of which were completely destroyed.
When asked about the future of the network in the South, sources at Touch told SMEX that the company is working on preventing such an outcome. Although 25 stations have gone out of service, coverage in the South still exceeds 70%.
A source at Alfa said the company has taken “proactive measures to ensure geographical coverage in the South, especially in key locations and main transportation/fiber and telecommunications centers.”
“As long as we are allowed to enter, do minimum maintenance work, and refuel the stations, there is no fear of a complete services shutdown.”
Installing mobile stations is “out of the question”
The emergency plan requires installing a mobile station to provide coverage in times of war.
However, our sources at Touch explained that “the crisis in the South does not distinguish between mobile and fixed stations. If a security concern prevents us from entering a certain town, we cannot install a mobile station there either. If we get security clearance and can enter, we can repair the fixed station, which will provide coverage for the town.”
Our sources at Alfa consider such a measure “out of the question” due to its high risks. This means that the emergency only works on paper, and if the security situation worsens, communications services may halt.
The plan proposes another solution: activating “national roaming” between Touch and Alfa, which would allow cellphone users to use both operators within the country, especially when their operator is unavailable in their place of residence.
For example, if Touch’s coverage is weak or unavailable, Touch users can use Alfa’s coverage, and vice versa.
Both operators claim that “national roaming is activated for voice services when possible.” Our sources at Touch mentioned that “the service worked because of the limited number of people still living in the South.”
Difficulty obtaining security clearance
Alfa and Touch’s maintenance teams require security clearance to supply transmission stations with diesel. Despite forming a committee that includes members from Touch, Alfa, and the Security Forces, Powertech is still waiting for security clearance to supply diesel and conduct maintenance works.
“Providing protection and security clearance in relatively safe places is tricky,” a security force source told SMEX.
“After the Israeli occupation targeted the telecom team who had approval from the Army and the UNIFIL, we cannot risk the lives of maintenance teams, army members, or UNIFIL workers stationed in the South.”
In response to the demands of residents of the South to be exempt from paying telecom bills, a source at Touch told SMEX that “the ministry is no longer suspending lines in case of failure to settle bills.”
At Alfa, however, the decision remains with the executive authority.
During this difficult period, Beirut and several of its areas, such as Hamra, Sin el Fil, Hadath El Jebbe, and Fatqa, witnessed service interruptions. Ogero attributed this to increased pressure on generators and asked citizens for their “understanding.”
However, how long can people show understanding if they risk being isolated from the world?
Cover Photo by AFP
