Lebanese were promised to enjoy normal internet speed at the launching of the India-Middle East-Western Europe (IMEWE) submarine cable by December 2010.
In December, however, IMEWE announced the beginning of its operations at all stations except Lebanon, due to conflict between Telecommunications Minister Charbel Nahhas and Ogero, the company responsible for the construction and maintenance of the cable.
Angry users have launched in protest Ontornet ( Arabic Word for Wait for the Net ), an online campaign for a decent and affordable internet connection in Lebanon, featuring a caricature of a dated Internet service as their front page : turn-of-century Lebanese house/server powered by Roman communication system/doves; run on donkey power.
In a digital age that is allowing radical political revolutions across the Arab region due to availability of internet and massive use of social networks, Lebanon falls far behind and is largely absent from the world internet map.
Needless to say, the upgrade and affordability of this infrastructure is a precondition to any claim of modernization and democracy that Lebanese are so famous to brag about.
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