State of Internet access in SouthLebanon

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State of Internet access in South-Lebanon
Prepared presented by Ms. Therese
Khairallah April 2003
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PRESENTATION
PLAN

• Part 1
• Introduction, Objectives Methodology
• Part 2
• The Covered Region
• Part 3
• Present State of Internet Access
• Part 4
• Suggested Solutions Recommendations

(3 slides)
(6 slides)
(9 slides)
(7 slides)
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Presentation Plan - Part 1
Introduction, Objectives Methodology (Total
slides 3)
4

INTRODUCTION
This study is part of

• ESCWA initiative to help in the socio-economic
  development of the region
• ESCWA Eight tracks for assistance to the south.
• Two of the eight tracks are presently being
  implemented.
• Donor agencies and countries will respond to the
  needs of South Lebanon, which suffered from 22
  years of occupation, so that a substantial number
  of these projects will see the light.

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OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

• Review present state of Internet Access in South
  Lebanon
• Defining types of internet access
• Identifying Data and Internet providers,
  potential users and internet related projects
• Identifying obstacles to Internet services
  deployment
• Suggest short and mid-term solutions
• Commercial Technical conditions
• Potential sources of funding

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METHODOLOGY

• The covered area as a representative sample
• Marjeyoun Kafarkila 2 different cases of IC
  situation ? Representative of the unequal
  Internet state in South-Lebanon
• Data collection based on public and private
  reports, surveys and interviews communicated by
  national and regional providers and local key
  persons
• Qualitative Survey conducted with local key
  persons to avoid any bias in our approach and
  remain close to region expectations
• Seminars
• First seminar held in Marjayoun on march 18,
  2003
• Second seminar held in Kfarkila on march 21, 2003
• Study analysis synthesis

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Presentation Plan - Part 2
The Covered Region

• - Geographic location, history and economy (2)
• - Infrastructure (2)
• - Detailed Map of villages population (1)
• - Zones of influence (1)
• (Total slides 6)

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GEOGRAPHIC SITUATION

• Location In the liberated area of South Lebanon
  representing around 27 of total Lebanese
  territory (10,452 km2)
• The region covered by the study represents around
  5 of the south area ( 141 km2)
• Population
• South-Lebanon residents represent around 29 of
  Lebanese population ( 3,678,000, July 02
  estimation)
• Residents of covered region represent around 3
  of South-Lebanon population

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HISTORY ECONOMY

• Recent History
• 22 years under Israeli occupation (from 1978
  1982 dates of 1st and 2nd invasion till May
  2001date of liberation)
• Economy
• Decent economical growth during occupation mainly
  due to
• Important of local population working in
  occupied Palestine.
• Businesses depending on the UNIFIL presence
• Significant drop of region revenues following
  territories liberation.

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INFRASTRUCTURE
Local population had to find alternatives to the
lack of basic infrastructure

• Electricity available but not poor level of
  services gt Installation of local private
  electricity network to guarantee continuous power
  supply
• Public Switch Telephone Network (PSTN)
• Not operational yet except some analog phone
  lines installed in selected public organizations
  (mainly in some municipalities and schools)
• Installation of a private switch telephone
  network not interconnected with the public one
  and covering major villages of the covered
  region.
• GSM coverage Both national companies (LibanCell
  and Cellis) have decent coverage of the region.
  However, LibanCell is the only GSM provider to
  offer GPRS services. No service enhancement is
  planned due to ongoing privatization process.

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INFRASTRUCTURE
Internet services are usually directly related to
the availability of public phone lines, which is
not the case in the region till date despite
repeated promises to install and operate PSTN
within few months

• Wireless Data coverage 2 licensed providers
  (CableOne GDS) over 3 operational in Lebanon (
  Pesco). However, in GDS network, the covered area
  needs repeaters to be reached.
• Internet Providers all major Lebanese ISPs are
  connected to the clouds of above Wireless data
  providers, and thus can offer their Internet
  services, including Internet download
  Via-Satellite. However, Wireless networks are
  their only way to reach the covered area in the
  absence of Public STN.

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DETAILED MAP

• Capital of the casa Marjeyoun
• Biggest agglomeration Kfarkila followed by Khiam
• Significant seasonal variation in number of
  residents

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ZONES OF INFLUENCE

• 2 different zones of influence based on
  significant dissimilarities in
• Level of urban development
• Average Income
• Educational Health level
• Zone 1 Marjeyoun is the educational and health
  sector of the whole casa

• Zone 2 KafarKila is the capital of the south
  sub-region as the most densely populated area

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Presentation Plan - Part 3
Present State of Internet Access

• - The Lebanese Internet market (1)
• - Available type of connection (1)
• - PCs Internet in schools and homes(2)
• - Internet Cafes Visitors (1)
• - Cable Operators Coverage (2)
• - Other Internet Related Projects (1)
• - Obstacles for Internet Development (1)
• (Total slides 9)

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South-Lebanon Internet Market
Source IDM representative sample during first
quarter of 2003

• South-Lebanon represents
• 6 of total number of consuming customers (Beirut
  01 code represents 40)
• Average consumed hours lower by -20 compared to
  Beirut

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Available types of connection
DIAL-UP ACESS
DEDICATED ACCESS
PSTN line
Copper leased line
Wireless link
Cable operators using wireless technology
private STN to redistribute Internet to villages,
internet cafes home users represented the only
remaining solution
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PCs Internet in Schools

• Most of the local schools have been equipped by
  PCs trough public and private funding projects
  (see annex). However, they suffer from
• Lack of training resources
• Low computer literacy of the educational body
• No Internet access (except in Marjeyoun secondary
  school through dialup access)

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PCs Internet at homes

• Marjeyoun Zone The PC penetration ratio is
  comparable to ---
• KafarKila Zone Very low computer literacy and
  penetration (almost absent)
• Home Internet usage was limited to some
  privileged individuals having through cable
  providers
• dialup access based on local telephony network
• dedicated connection based on wi-fi solution or
  hybrid (wi-fi wired cable)

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Internet Cafes Visitors

• Internet cafes represented the most important
  access means in the whole region
• Currently only one internet café is still
  offering its services in Marjeyoun trough dialup
  access. All other cafes connected through Cable
  operators have been stopped by Ministry of
  Telecom in January 2003
• The average number of Internet users frequenting
  all Internet cafes in the region do not exceed 53
  during low season 80 during high season

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First Cable Operator Coverage

• From April 01 till June 02 Mr. Fadi Harakeh
  implemented the first internet cabling network
• 8 villages out of 12
• Reaching mainly Internet cafes
• Data link provided by CableOne
• Internet by Terranet 642 kbps uplink 512 kbps
  V-Sat downlink
• Despite an acceptable economical feasibility,
  operation stopped due to
• Collection problems due to low purchase power
• Tribal and religious divisions

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Second Cable Operator Coverage

• From June 02 till Feb 03, Mr. Abou Antoun
  purchased the operation and
• Limited his coverage to 4 villages
• Upgraded the link capacity to 128 kbps uplink
  1.5 Mbps V-Sat downlink
• Selling Price 35/ user and 50/ PC
• Competitive advantage already installed private
  telephony network offering Internet dialup
  connectivity to individuals users
• Operation stopped by the Ministry of Telecom for
  illegality of cabling operations even if the
  region has no other alternative in absence of
  telephony network.

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INTERNET DEVELOPMENT OBSTACLES

• Non availability of developed infrastructure No
  PSTN Higher basic necessary investments High
  subscription price Lower Service Standard
• Unclear legalization
• Illegality of cabling when it is the only
  available solution?
• Unclear legal aspect of new Wi-Fi technology?
• Limited number of computer installations in
  Educational, Corporate and Domicile sectors
• Low Computer and Internet literacy especially in
  Kafarkila Zone
• Low Purchase Power ( bad economical conditions
  after the liberation)

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Presentation Plan - Part 4
Suggested Solutions Recommendations

• Local Solutions (2)
• Priority Definition
• Short, Mid, and long term solutions
• Regional Action Plan (5)
• Plan overview
• First Phase
• Second Phase
• Third Phase
• (Total slides 7)

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Major Priorities per Village

• Defined priorities
• Infrastructure
• ICT training
• CIAC Communal Internet Access Center
• Amelioration of access quality

ICT Training CIAC are sponsored during a short
term period, but should become financially
independent and self sustained afterwards
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Local Solutions

• The twelve villages have been sorted to 5
  solution tracks shown in the figure below. Each
  track is made from three solutions of which
• the first one would constitute the short-term
  solution
• the first and the second together make the
  mid-term solution
• and the three combined represent the long-term
  solution.

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Overview Of Regional Action Plan

• The Conceived action plan is divided into three
  phases
• First Phase The elevation of the ICT literacy
  rate
• The establishment of the Computer labs in public
  schools, and the launch of the Internet Caravan
• Second Phase Providing Internet Connectivity
• The establishment of the Communal Internet
  Access Centers
• Third Phase Amelioration of Internet Quality
• Encouraging ISPs and public institutions to
  invest in the improvement of the Internet
  Quality (Base Station, Leased lines)

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The First Phase 1-
Phase 1 The Elevation of the ICT literacy rate

• The currently ICT literacy rate is 3
• The Required ICT rate is 10
• The number of residents targeted by the ICT
  training is more than 2,400

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The First Phase -2-
Phase 1 The Elevation of the ICT literacy rate
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The Second Phase
Phase 2 Providing Internet Connectivity
Phase 2 includes the establishment of three CIAC
in the following villages -Taybeh -
KfarKila - Khiam
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The Third Phase
Phase 3 Amelioration of Internet Access Quality

• Suggestions for
• The establishment of a local base station to
  provide adequate Internet access quality (project
  addressed to Lebanese ISPs)
• The provision of Digital and Analogue Leased
  Lines by the MPT to the local corporate sector