The outgoing Minister of Telecommunication, Charbel Nahas, announced this afternoon the launching of the Third Generation plan for the cell phone network. Nahas said that more than two billion dollars is being spent on communication each year. The amount is distributed as such: 17 percent on landline phones, 66 percent on cell phones, eight percent on Internet, and nine percent on Value Added Tax, (VAT). Nahas said that the new plan will provide a DSL service that is 27 times faster than the existing one. “The contract to modernize the telecommunication network that is being run by Alfa was won by Ericsson,” he said. The final cost of the contract was set at $29 million. Modernizing the MTC network was won by Huawei, whose bid was $25.6 million, excluding the control center, which will be carried out by Nokia Siemens, whose bid was $2.7million, said Nahas. The outgoing minister said that the modernization plan does not need the approval of the Council of Ministers.