Vcoderz Community - INTERNET:Lebanon ranked 186th in the world! The Last!

Lebanon's internet speed was ranked last in the world - 186th by Speedtest.net!

The World Bank estimates that Lebanon loses each year 1.4% growth in GDP due to the inexistence of fast internet services! This loss is estimated at 420 million USD / year!

What is the REAL CAUSE of this backwardness and lack of fast internet services?

There are several direct and indirect reasons. Even though there are 23 Internet Service Providers and Data Operators and the market is liberalized since 1995, private operators face major obstacles and unfair competition from the government. Below we list some of the main reasons:

FIRST. The cost of international E1 lines (the lines that connect Lebanon to Europe and USA's internet backbone) are very expensive. ISPs pay indirect tax on International lines (E1s) approximately 1350% per month. We pay $2700 / month for a 2 Meg connection, while the cost on the Government is around $300!!!

SECOND. ISPs and Data Operators have 9 month and 20 day interim licenses (end by 31/12/2011). How can anyone make an investment of 20-30 million dollars to build a top notch broadband network, when the interim transitory licenses are renewed on a yearly basis for the past 9 years!? Wouldn't an investor look for long term plans?

THIRD. ISPs and Data Operators pay around 60% direct and indirect taxes!
• 20% revenue sharing (20 cents on every dollar of revenue!)
• 15% income tax
• 10% dividend tax
• Social security
• 10% VAT
and
• 1350% on E1s

FOURTH. The Government-owned operators compete unfairly with private operators, by:
• charging ISPs and Data Operators high taxes while alfa, mtc and Ogero do not pay
• not granting ISPs and Data Operators Long Term Licenses

See below SpeedTest's ranking of all countries, and see how Lebanon bottoms the list!

1 South Korea 39.57 Mb/s 2 Aland Islands 26.18 Mb/s 3 Latvia 25.80 Mb/s 4 Lithuania 25.15 Mb/s 5 Romania 24.50 Mb/s 6 Republic of Moldova 23.17 Mb/s 7 Netherlands 23.16 Mb/s 8 Sweden 21.49 Mb/s 9 Andorra 19.82 Mb/s 10 Iceland 18.64 Mb/s 11 Belgium 18.16 Mb/s 12 Portugal 18.13 Mb/s 13 Japan 17.98 Mb/s 14 Singapore 17.92 Mb/s 15 Switzerland 17.78 Mb/s 16 Bulgaria 17.41 Mb/s 17 Germany 17.18 Mb/s 18 Estonia 17.13 Mb/s 19 Denmark 15.89 Mb/s 20 Luxembourg 14.81 Mb/s 21 Ukraine 14.37 Mb/s 22 Hungary 14.36 Mb/s 23 France 14.06 Mb/s 24 Norway 13.58 Mb/s 25 Finland 13.26 Mb/s 26 Taiwan 12.87 Mb/s 27 Liechtenstein 12.45 Mb/s 28 Russia 12.11 Mb/s 29 Austria 12.04 Mb/s 30 United Arab Emirates 11.94 Mb/s 31 Slovakia 11.52 Mb/s 32 United Kingdom 11.25 Mb/s 33 Czech Republic 11.04 Mb/s 34 United States 10.39 Mb/s 35 Canada 10.20 Mb/s 36 Macau 9.77 Mb/s 37 Saint Pierre and Miquelon 9.64 Mb/s 38 Faroe Islands 9.30 Mb/s 39 Spain 9.27 Mb/s 40 Slovenia 9.19 Mb/s 41 Australia 8.81 Mb/s 42 Trinidad and Tobago 8.55 Mb/s 43 Malta 8.41 Mb/s 44 Isle of Man 8.38 Mb/s 45 Greenland 8.32 Mb/s 46 Georgia 8.24 Mb/s 47 Poland 8.10 Mb/s 48 Vietnam 7.72 Mb/s 49 Ghana 7.60 Mb/s 50 New Zealand 7.55 Mb/s 51 Greece 7.05 Mb/s 52 Kazakstan 6.96 Mb/s 53 Ireland 6.76 Mb/s 54 Chile 6.74 Mb/s 55 Mongolia 6.69 Mb/s 56 Aruba 6.35 Mb/s 57 Turkey 6.26 Mb/s 58 Monaco 6.20 Mb/s 59 Israel 6.13 Mb/s 60 Belarus 6.08 Mb/s 61 Guernsey 5.98 Mb/s 62 Kyrgyzstan 5.96 Mb/s 63 Thailand 5.85 Mb/s 64 Jersey 5.66 Mb/s 65 Macedonia 5.46 Mb/s 66 Saudi Arabia 5.40 Mb/s 67 Jamaica 5.29 Mb/s 68 Netherlands Antilles 5.24 Mb/s 69 Rwanda 5.05 Mb/s 70 Croatia 4.98 Mb/s 71 Italy 4.97 Mb/s 72 San Marino 4.94 Mb/s 73 Guam 4.73 Mb/s 74 Cyprus 4.67 Mb/s 75 Brazil 4.44 Mb/s 76 Oman 4.36 Mb/s 77 Qatar 4.08 Mb/s 78 Maldives 4.02 Mb/s 79 Gibraltar 3.82 Mb/s 80 Grenada 3.82 Mb/s 81 Mexico 3.76 Mb/s 82 Kenya 3.65 Mb/s 83 Malaysia 3.57 Mb/s 84 China 3.54 Mb/s 85 Montenegro 3.51 Mb/s 86 South Africa 3.42 Mb/s 87 Uganda 3.42 Mb/s 88 Serbia 3.41 Mb/s 89 Bermuda 3.33 Mb/s 90 Cayman Islands 3.23 Mb/s 91 Argentina 3.20 Mb/s 92 Bahamas 3.17 Mb/s 93 Kuwait 3.16 Mb/s 94 Zimbabwe 3.05 Mb/s 95 Azerbaijan 3.04 Mb/s 96 Brunei Darussalam 3.04 Mb/s 97 Tajikistan 3.01 Mb/s 98 Puerto Rico 2.94 Mb/s 99 Nicaragua 2.79 Mb/s 100 Bosnia and Herzegovina 2.70 Mb/s 101 Costa Rica 2.69 Mb/s 102 Albania 2.67 Mb/s 103 Honduras 2.56 Mb/s 104 Guadeloupe 2.53 Mb/s 105 Martinique 2.52 Mb/s 106 French Guiana 2.46 Mb/s 107 Nepal 2.45 Mb/s 108 Cape Verde 2.42 Mb/s 109 Armenia 2.41 Mb/s 110 Tunisia 2.38 Mb/s 111 Colombia 2.35 Mb/s 112 Panama 2.25 Mb/s 113 Anguilla 2.18 Mb/s 114 British Virgin Islands 2.16 Mb/s 115 Saint Kitts and Nevis 2.15 Mb/s 116 Papua New Guinea 2.12 Mb/s 117 Bahrain 2.10 Mb/s 118 Mozambique 2.08 Mb/s 119 New Caledonia 2.08 Mb/s 120 Ecuador 2.08 Mb/s 121 Reunion 2.07 Mb/s 122 Dominica 2.01 Mb/s 123 Uzbekistan 1.99 Mb/s 124 Dominican Republic 1.98 Mb/s 125 Jordan 1.96 Mb/s 126 Cambodia 1.92 Mb/s 127 Tanzania 1.90 Mb/s 128 Namibia 1.90 Mb/s 129 Morocco 1.85 Mb/s 130 Mauritius 1.78 Mb/s 131 U.S. Virgin Islands 1.76 Mb/s 132 Saint Lucia 1.73 Mb/s 133 Pakistan 1.73 Mb/s 134 Senegal 1.67 Mb/s 135 St. Vincent and Grenadines 1.66 Mb/s 136 Uruguay 1.63 Mb/s 137 Libyan Arab Jamahiriya 1.60 Mb/s 138 India 1.60 Mb/s 139 Botswana 1.57 Mb/s 140 Philippines 1.57 Mb/s 141 Antigua and Barbuda 1.56 Mb/s 142 Djibouti 1.55 Mb/s 143 Peru 1.54 Mb/s 144 Seychelles 1.54 Mb/s 145 Indonesia 1.53 Mb/s 146 Paraguay 1.51 Mb/s 147 Haiti 1.51 Mb/s 148 Turks and Caicos Islands 1.47 Mb/s 149 Palestinian Territory 1.37 Mb/s 150 El Salvador 1.34 Mb/s 151 Syrian Arab Republic 1.32 Mb/s 152 Sri Lanka 1.30 Mb/s 153 Fiji 1.30 Mb/s 154 Belize 1.26 Mb/s 155 Egypt 1.24 Mb/s 156 Barbados 1.22 Mb/s 157 French Polynesia 1.20 Mb/s 158 Laos 1.17 Mb/s 159 Guatemala 1.16 Mb/s 160 Mauritania 1.12 Mb/s 161 Nigeria 1.11 Mb/s 162 Algeria 1.09 Mb/s 163 Mali 1.08 Mb/s 164 Cote D'Ivoire 1.06 Mb/s 165 Northern Mariana Islands 1.04 Mb/s 166 Ethiopia 1.00 Mb/s 167 Madagascar 0.99 Mb/s 168 Zambia 0.95 Mb/s 169 Swaziland 0.95 Mb/s 170 Guyana 0.94 Mb/s 171 Venezuela 0.92 Mb/s 172 Sudan 0.85 Mb/s 173 Burkina Faso 0.84 Mb/s 174 Angola 0.83 Mb/s 175 Yemen 0.81 Mb/s 176 Bangladesh 0.80 Mb/s 177 Afghanistan 0.80 Mb/s 178 Suriname 0.80 Mb/s 179 Malawi 0.73 Mb/s 180 Iraq 0.72 Mb/s 181 Gabon 0.65 Mb/s 182 Islamic Republic of Iran 0.64 Mb/s 183 Vanuatu 0.62 Mb/s 184 Bolivia 0.58 Mb/s 185 Cameroon 0.56 Mb/s 186 Lebanon 0.48 Mb/s