24 December 2008

SIN AL-FIL: Alfa auctioned off 50 premium mobile phone numbers Monday evening, raising $710,000  for Lebanon's much-maligned national telecommunications industry.

In a ceremonious public sale at the Metropolitan Palace Hotel, Alfa, one of Lebanon's two cellular operators, unloaded dozens of the prized combinations of 7s, 3s, and 0s.

The most coveted number, 70-333333, sold for an astounding $90,000, propelled by the auctioneer's coaxing and his seamless navigation among Arabic, French and English.

The Alfa network was taken over by the Telecommunications Ministry at the beginning of December, and the auction was the first high-profile event after the government take-over. MTC Touch, Lebanon's second operator held a similar event earlier in the fall, raising some $2.5 million.

Last month, Cabinet voted to renew MTC's operating contract for an additional two months and to cancel Alfa's contract outright. Both operating licenses will be tendered in an international bidding session - for two, year-long contracts - early next year.

Although the government will retain control of the industry, some analysts have suggested that the tender will help move the sector toward a long-awaited privatization.

Alfa's communications head and spokeswoman, Aline Karam, called the evening - 50 numbers auctioned off in under three hours - a great success.

"For us this is the event to restart Alfa ... since the ministry took over December 1," Karam said. She added that unlike the MTC Touch auction this fall, Alfa wanted the auction "to be accessible to all people." This, she said, was the reason why Alfa had divided the mobile numbers into "silver," "gold" and "platinum" classes.

However, Karam also acknowledged that the auction may not have garnered as much attention or raised as much money as other events. She credited the global financial crisis with having tempered buyer enthusiasm.

"You can feel the crisis with the Arab people. They are not here anymore," she said.

Indeed, only Lebanese buyers were present at the auction, and several "special platinum" numbers, with bidding floors of $25,000 and $50,000, were passed on.

But global credit crisis or not, most numbers were sold and for big sums. 70-300000 sold for $65,000 and 70-300300 went for $37,000.

One buyer who wished to remain anonymous told The Daily Star after purchasing his first number: "I bought it because I like it, because it's my favorite number. But now I need more."

"Look," he said, as he took three more cell phones out of his pocket.

Meeting again after the auction, he said, with a smile that he had bought four of the prized numbers: two for him and one for each of his wives.

Another buyer donated his $5,000 number, 70-323000, back to Alfa - to be given to the company's "best employee."

Presiding over the event, Telecommunications Minister Jebran Bassil spoke before and after the auction.

"This auction is a second chance for those who want to buy special numbers without going to the black market," the minister said.

"We promise to dedicate the revenue from the first auction to improving the network, and we are about to finish signing all the contracts regarding this issue," he added. "The real work will start at the beginning of next year."

Alfa also used the occasion to publicize its two newest features: unit-sharing and sms roaming. In addition, e-auction services will soon be available on Alfa's website.

Bassil touts plans for better DSL penetration

BEIRUT: Telecommunications Minister Jebran Bassil said on Tuesday that the number of DSL subscribers in Lebanon is expected to reach 100,000 at the end of February 2009.

"The number of DSL subscribers rose by 60 percent in three months," the minister said after touring one of the phone centers in Sin al-Fil area.

The new Internet service was first introduced less than three years ago but the spread of DSL was relatively small in comparison to the size of the population.

Ogero, a state-owned company, still controls more than 70 percent of the DSL market share in the country and the rest is divided among seven ISP providers.

Bassil said that the ministry intends to install DSL networks in seven regions in Lebanon in the coming few weeks.

"We will try to increase the capacity of downloading and improve the service once will install new equipment in many areas," Bassil said.

But critics say that the subscriptions fees for DSL in Lebanon are relatively high compared to other countries in the region. They add that Lebanon is still far behind in other IT areas as well.

Bassil also said that the reduction on the installation fees for fixed telephone lines from LL212,000 to LL50,000 has encouraged more people to subscribe to DSL. - The Daily Star

Copyright The Daily Star 2008.