Timour Azhari, Laila Basam and Timour Azhari

BEIRUT, (Reuters) – Lebanon’s telecom duopoly used to spend most of its money on rent, wages and infrastructure.

Today, revenues are down and Alfa and Touch’s biggest expense is diesel to power their generators. Before the financial meltdown and currency crashes in 2008 and 2009 respectively, they used to operate the crumbling telecom network.

Johnny Corm, Telecoms Minister to Reuters stated that “we are stuck in crisis management mode and are unable to see the long-term issues or find solutions because we are distracted by everyday matters.” “We live each day.”

Although global telecoms providers are competing for subscriber offers and building 5G networks in their markets, Lebanon’s two mobile companies – which were both returned to state control in 2020 – focus on the more mundane things like stopping thefts of their network cables.

Corm stated, “Everyday there’s a robbery.” “It’s reached the point where we need to call municipalities and ask for their help, because security forces no longer have enough capacity.”

Generator fuel accounted for 7% of telecom sector expenses last year when the country’s power grid was in serious trouble. The minister stated that this is expected to rise to almost two-thirds of the budget for the year.

The forecasted drop in wages to 10% from one-third of the costs is a sign of how revenue are being eaten up and employees’ shrinking spending power.

These revenues represent just 5% in dollars of what they were before 2019’s crisis. This shows the severity of the Lebanese dollar collapse, which made imports extremely expensive.

According to Touch, the minister made $850 million in 2018 when the pound of Lebanon was 1,500 against the dollar. Based on the current exchange rates of 31,000 and 45.5 millions in 2021, it would shrink to $45.5 Million.

Corm explained that the prices of companies must be reviewed in order for them to operate and not drain the state’s almost depleted coffers.

However, price adjustments require cabinet approval. He added that this is because the ministers have not been in touch for over three months as a result of a dispute about a probe into Beirut’s 2020 port blast.

Internet outages, weak mobile signals, and other problems plague this system. Corm however suggested that there was little hope for positive change as as nearly half of those employed by the firms failed to arrive for work. Some wages aren’t enough to cover transportation costs for some.

Corm stated that revenues from telecoms had been in decline prior to the crisis. This fall is often blamed for corruption. However, the minister stated that the economic collapse has made the effects of corruption seem small.

He said, “When there were a lot corruption there was lots of money.” “Today, money is scarce.”