Government buys share in fiber optics cable

Can now lease Internet to neighbors

The Ministry of Telecommunication (MoT) signed an agreement with Cypriot firm ‘Cyta Global’ to purchase a share of Alexandros, a fiber optic marine cable linking Lebanon to Cyprus, Egypt, and France.

Fadi Abi Nassif, advisor to the Minister of Telecoms, said: “The deal is valued at over $20 million fully paid by the government.” With this contract, the government now owns 25 percent of the cable, he said.

Wael Ayoub, Chief Operating Officer at Touch, said the cable will upgrade Internet service all over the country. “Alexandros will provide us with redundancy and backup so that we would not suffer Internet blackouts in the future.” He said all types of Internet service, including mobile, wireless, and DSL, will benefit from extra capacity and speed.


Abi Nassif said the high cost of the contract will be remunerated on the long term: “Before, the government used to rent the Internet capacity over the cable at high fees, which on the long run adds up to around three times the contract’s value.”

Alexandros has a maximum capacity of 700 Gbps. This is a huge capacity which will not be fully used, according to Abi Nassif. “The Lebanese government will be free to lease the unused capacity to neighboring countries and generate revenue from its cable share.”

Lebanon owns 12 percent of fiber optics cable IMEWE, which runs from India, through the GCC, to Egypt. Abi Nassif said Alexandros will be used in parallel with the IMEWE cable. “Each of the two cables will be providing the market with a redundant route for Internet connection in case of blackout,” he said.