Alfa and Touch employees gather on the first day of an open-ended strike on Dec. 13, 2021. (Credit: NNA)
BEIRUT — A number of demonstrators staged a sit-in in front of MTC Touch’s main sales center in Tripoli in protest of the sharp increase in their telecom tariffs, L’Orient Today’s correspondent in the north reports.
Here’s what we know:
• According to the correspondent, demonstrators described the Telecommunications Minister Johnny Corm as corrupt, and while using megaphones, demanded that the company’s employees leave their offices. An army force arrived at the scene.
• The telecommunications prices came into effect Friday. All subscriptions are now being paid in dollars using Banque du Liban’s Sayrafa rate — which as of Monday stood at LL25,300 to the dollar. To calculate the new telecom prices, the original dollar rate (at LL1,507.5 to $1) should be divided by three, then multiplied by the Sayrafa rate.
• A group of protesters in the Baalbeck-Hermel region also staged a sit-in Monday in front of the MTC Touch branch in Baalbeck and closed it for some time preventing customers from going in, in protest of the services’ high prices.
• Meanwhile, Alfa announced in a statement Tuesday that it is “keeping up with the price change process” in the implementation of the government’s decision. The company added that it is fully prepared to receive any concerns or reviews in this regard by contacting customer service via Alfa pages on social media platforms or by calling 111.