Lebanon-based news media has reported that the country is planning a new Internet submarine cable to link the country to Europe.
Minister of Telecommunications Mohamad Choucair has been quoted as suggesting that the cable will support local Internet services and give Lebanon the opportunity to be a hub for internet distribution to countries in the region.
It's early days yet, of course. Studies related to the project are still ongoing and, once they are completed, a tender will be launched. After this it is expected that the project will be implemented in partnership with other, so far unidentified, parties. Lebanon intends to pay part of the cost of the cable project and to share in the revenues that it will generate from its operation.
This is not the only Lebanon-based cable project in the works; another cable project is scheduled for launch this year, an undersea cable that will replace the Cadmus cable which links Lebanon to Cyprus. Lebanon also has access to the submarine cable Alexandros, which links the country to France through Cyprus.
