RIYADH: Lebanon’s state-owned telecom company Ogero is working to restore and expand the country’s connectivity after experiencing damages due to the Israeli conflict.
The clashes have significantly disrupted Lebanon’s telecom infrastructure, impeding connectivity and slowing the nation’s digital advancement.
Ogero’s Chairman and Director General Imad Kreidieh announced in a live broadcast that the company’s expansion plans will resume, supported by funding from multiple donors.
According to Kreidieh, Ogero connected 221,000 households to fiber-optic Internet in 2024 and plans to add 406,000 new subscribers to the network this year.
The company is also upgrading from Wi-Fi 5, currently used at Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport, to Wi-Fi 7. The upgrade will provide speeds of up to 3,500 megabits per second with ultra-low latency of 2—4 milliseconds.
The network’s backhaul capacity is being upgraded from 20 gigabits per second to 40 Gbps to support enhanced connectivity, according to Kreidieh.
Ogero is also expanding its LTE infrastructure, increasing the number of stations from 97 to 219 by the end of 2025 and 390 by 2026, which translates to better and wider coverage nationwide.
The LTE-Advanced capacity will be quadrupled from 10 Gbps to 40 Gbps to enhance performance and service quality.
The top official also said that Ogero will build 215 new stations in the southern and Baalbek regions, which were heavily damaged by Israeli strikes, over the next 24 months, allowing users to regain connectivity.
In a move toward sustainability, Ogero is also implementing solar energy solutions for 358 sites, with a 4-megawatt production capacity and 463 kiloampere-hours storage capacity. The $9.6 million project is expected to generate $8.5 million in annual savings, according to Kreidieh.
Ogero serves as the core of the Ministry of Telecommunications, providing essential infrastructure for all telecom networks, including mobile operators, data service providers, and Internet service providers.
