Expatriates to help telecom sector

Task force includes top regional sector leaders

Over 30 expatriates holding key positions in regional and international telecom companies launched a private initiative, last Friday, to support Lebanon’s deteriorating telecom sector.

The committee, which will act as a task force and a counseling body, will submit a plan and a strategy to the Ministry of Telecommunications (MOT) to restore the services of the sector, mainly related to mobile phones and the Internet.

The committee will make mid and long term recommendations, using a scientific approach to set short term solutions for improving the functionality of the telecom sector.

“The committee will meet every two weeks to sum up, discuss the findings, and specify the next steps to take,” said Gilbert Najjar, MOT’s representative at the Owners’ Supervisory Board (OSD).

Members of the committee include Kamal Shehadi, Etisalat Group's Chief Legal & Regulatory Officer, Osman Sultan, Chief Executive Officer of DU - UAE, Hassan Kabbani, CEO of Zain Saudi Arabia, Maan El Amine, CEO Orascom Belgium, Samer Halawi, Thuraya's Chief Executive Officer, Dany Doueik, Chief Commercial Officer of VIVA Kuwait, and many others.

Najjar said that this committee will share with the Ministry of Telecommunications its know-how and help to compensate the missing time. “We, as a government, are passive, while they are active.”