Zain’s affiliate in Lebanon, mtc touch, the country’s leading mobile operator, held a live demonstration of the forthcoming hi-speed internet 3.9G HSPA+ mobile services during a press conference held in Beirut. Held under the auspices and presence of Lebanon’s Minister of Telecommunications, Dr Charbel Nahas, also in attendance at the event was Mr Nabeel Bin Salamah, CEO of Zain Group, in addition to Lebanese Ministry officials, representatives of leading global telecom solutions provider Huawei, who is working hand in hand with mtc touch in the implementation of the new technology, and media who were able to test the technology both on laptops/ipads and through their mobile phones.
The press conference was opened by Mr Bin Salamah who thanked the Minister and the Lebanese government for its confidence and trust in company over the years stating: “Since the beginning of our management of the mtc touch network going back to June 2004, the company’s goal has always been to develop the level of telecommunications services in the country.” He further added, “Hi-speed reliable internet access has become a necessity in today’s fast developing world and advanced technologies such as 3.9G HSPA+ will contribute positively to Lebanon’s economic and social well-being on various levels.”
The 3.9G HSPA+ is expected to go live and be commercially available across all of Lebanon by the end of the year offering speeds of up to 42 megabits per second. Among the 850 sites that will be compliant with such technology, mtc touch plans to have 50 enhanced sites with LTE technology (Long Term Evolution), which can reach speeds of 700 times more than the current speed in mobile internet access and 115 times faster than DSL, that will put mtc touch in the ranks of the very few in the world who utilize such technology.
