Ogero is upgrading the internet network to achieve higher connection speeds for the rest of the country by the year’s end, Ogero President Imad Kreidieh said. “We are changing standards from ADSL to VDSL for everybody at 800 meters around our exchanges which will tap into 110,000 subscribers using the internet in Lebanon,” he said at an event held at the Phoenicia Hotel Monday.
Endeavorize Lebanon, a global entrepreneurship event, aims at focusing on innovation and the private sector’s role in creating opportunities. It also explores how to pave the way toward a more digitized community in Lebanon and the rest of the world.
Kreidieh said Ogero’s aim in the coming six months is to increase its reach by expanding its fiber and copper networks. “The expansion of the copper and fiber networks already started and the results of the bid are due today while work should start by September,” he said.
Kreidieh added that 4G LTE stations, which will offer very high internet speeds, will be deployed in remote areas instead of the wireless local loop. “This will happen before the end of this year,” he said.
He said Ogero has already made adjustments to the network and 55 percent of internet users have felt the difference in speed. “Around 55 percent of internet users were able to multiply their internet speed by 3 or 4 megabits per second while in some areas like such as Sidon and Zahle, we were able to move users from 4 Mbps to 18 Mbps,” he said.
Kreidieh said a large chunk of people had not yet experienced a change and that this is due to various reasons, including subscribers being away from the exchanges, the status of the network or the cleanliness of the copper that is in place. “This is a lot of work to be done but we are getting there,” he said.
Kreidieh added that Ogero is currently working on an internet of things platform for the agriculture sector that will be available by the end of this year for the private sector to build applications and use.
The internet of things allows farmers to use some high-tech farming technologies to improve the efficiency of their daily work.
He said that last Friday an Ogero team went to Kefraya to work in coordination with a Lebanese company on putting sensors in the area, in a bid to monitor and gather data about the quality of soil, the temperature and the moisture. “The internet of things platform works on improving the quality of agriculture production and this exercise can be applied to all agriculture products,” he said. “We are getting there.”
For his part, Emre Gurkan, CEO of touch, said that the Telecoms Ministry is planning to create a telecoms-driven fund. “There is no specific telecoms fund in the region yet. If you establish a fund dedicated to telecoms and you bring expertise from Zain or Alfa, I think a lot of new startups will see specific focus on telecoms,” he said.
Gurkan said the fund won’t be managed by the Zain team because they are not fund managers. “We are telecoms operators and the new fund will be managed by venture capital professionals,” he said.
Gurkan emphasized the importance of digitization, saying it is essential nowadays. “If you do not digitize over the next five years you won’t be able to exist,” he said.
He noted that Zain Group generated $26 million from digital initiatives by the end of 2016. “This is why we are pushing hard on the digital verticals,” he said. “If you push hard on digitization, I think we have a big chance to see substantial revenues in three to five years.”
