Mar 31 2009 |
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Lebanon on cusp of lower cell-phone fees, fair distribution
31 March 2009
BEIRUT: The distribution of prepaid cellular cards in the Lebanese market will be reorganized and new prices will be introduced starting at the beginning of April in a bid to curb black market sales, the Telecomunications minister said. Minister Jibran Bassil announced the new distribution policy of prepaid cellular cards in a press conference held Monday at the Telecommunications Ministry . The conference was attended the general manager of mtc touch Claude Bassil, head of the board of directors at Alfa Samer Salameh and head of the ministry's advisory board Gilbert Najjar.
Bassil said this step would be very important because it would give stability to the market.
He added that a better distribution policy would benefit all concerned parties, including primary and secondary distributors, the two network operators, the ministry and most importantly, the subscribers who he said should be able to receive quality service at a consistent price throughout the Lebanese territories.
The minister stressed that this step was very important in the face of a rising black market by giving distributors a range of 2-20 percent share maximum, especially that Lebanon has previously suffered from this issue, namely during high tourism seasons when card prices used to reach $150 and $200.
According to the new scheme, as announced earlier by the ministry, the monthly subscriptions for the postpaid cellular cards will fall to $15 from the current $25, a 40-percent drop.
The per-minute rate for the postpaid cards will also fall to $0.11 from the current $0.13, a drop of 16 percent.
In addition, the price of a prepaid card with a duration of one month will fall from the current $45 to $25, while the cost of a one-minute call will drop to $0.36 from the current $0.50.
Consumers will also have the option to buy prepaid cards with a duration of up to three months for $75. - The Daily Star
© Copyright The Daily Star 2009.
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