Ogero offices in Beirut. (Credit: PHB/L'Orient Today)
BEIRUT — Lebanon’s Economy Minister Amer Bisat said, on Friday, that launching Starlink operations in Lebanon will provide the private sector with additional reliable and efficient internet services, noting that he has "committed to helping them set up their operations in Lebanon effectively and rapidly," in a post on X after meeting with the head of Starlink MENA.
The move to cooperate with Starlink has not been warmly received by local internet service providers in Lebanon, who reportedly learned of the development through the media.
In response, they prepared a letter addressed to the Lebanese Minister of Telecommunications, Charles Hajj, outlining their technical, financial, and legal concerns on Wednesday.
The letter warns that “Starlink’s service would deprive private companies of at least 25% of their clientele — specifically institutions and corporations. As a result, the state's revenue from the sector would decline, and the proceeds from Starlink’s services would be transferred directly abroad, bypassing the Lebanese economy, which would lose this significant share.”
The companies called “for a regulated entry of Starlink into the Lebanese market, within a clear legal framework that is enforceable and subject to oversight.”
They also demanded that regulatory obligations be imposed on Starlink to level the playing field with the existing private internet providers operating in Lebanon.
According to the companies, the “current legislative and regulatory frameworks in Lebanon are not fully equipped to handle satellite internet technologies.”
Starlink is a satellite internet constellation developed by SpaceX, the aerospace company founded by Elon Musk. It aims to provide high-speed, low-latency broadband internet across the globe, especially in remote and underserved areas where traditional internet infrastructure is limited or non-existent.
Starlink meets with high-level Lebanese officials
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam received Sam Turner, Director of Licensing and Development for Starlink, on Thursday, in the presence of the U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon, Lisa Johnson, according to a statement from the Grand Serail on X.
Discussions focused on negotiations between Starlink and the Lebanese Telecoms Ministry, intending to integrate Lebanon into this network, which supplies 136 countries.
Hajj also met Turner on Thursday, with whom he discussed “ways of enabling Lebanon to join Starlink, while preserving national interests, with the aim of making the country a communications hub, which will help attract international companies and investors,” according to a statement relayed by the state-run National News Agency (NNA).
Earlier in the day, President Joseph Aoun met with Hajj regarding ongoing projects within the Ministry and the potential for cooperation with SpaceX to activate its Starlink internet service in Lebanon.
Last November, the former telecoms minister, Johnny Corm, indicated to L'Orient Today that the adoption of the Starlink system had been discussed with economic bodies but was hindered by two major obstacles: "one security-related and the other commercial."
Corm specified that over the course of negotiations with the American company, "the discourse changed, initially on pricing and previously negotiated discounts, but also on certain technical aspects."
The conditions laid out by SpaceX were that Lebanon would need to install servers in Qatar or Germany, which would be contrary to law No. 81 governing personal data protection.
