Fadlallah on Illegal Internet Services: It is Dangerous and Aggravating

Head of the parliamentary media committee MP Hassan Fadlallah stressed that the illegal internet networks uncovered lately is a serious issue that must be controlled by the state, As Safir daily reported on Tuesday.

“Illegal internet networks are a dangerous issue that is growing even bigger. The State must put hands on it because it has legal financial and security repercussions” Fadlallah told the daily.

He stressed that he will call the committee for a meeting next Monday to tackle the issue.

Parties to take part in the assembly will include Ministers of Telecommunications, Interior and Defense in addition to State Prosecutor Samir Hammoud and Financial Prosecutor Ali Ibrahim.

As Safir said it has obtained information that there are four illegal “communication crossings” with a tremendous ability of 40GB per second WiFi network speed which is equivalent to a third of the international capacities set by the Ministry of Telecommunications in service (150GB per second).

Butros Harb, the Telecommunications Minister, told Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5) that “initial investigations have shown a relation with the al-Barouk network.” He added that he will brief the public on Wednesday of all the information obtained so far.

Later on Tuesday LBCI said that Judge Ibrahim charged two individuals, Imad Lahhoud and Hagop Antranik, with installing fiber-optic cables and illegal internet networks in the area of al-Zaarour.

Last week, and during a meeting of the committee it was unveiled that anonymous parties described as a “mafia” are taking advantage of internet services by installing internet stations that are not subject to the state control.

The owners of these stations are buying international internet bandwidth with nominal cost from Turkey and Cyprus which they are selling back to Lebanese subscribers at reduced prices.

It has been reported that wireless internet towers and technical equipment were placed illegally in some mountainous terrains including Tannourine, al-Dinnieh, Sannine and al-Zaarour.

Smuggled internet services initiate risks namely the possibility of security breach as it lacks the basic control standards exposing Lebanon's security to third parties including Israel.

Adding to the above is the fact that smuggling online services outside legal frameworks is a waste for the state's treasury amounting to over $2 million losses on a monthly basis.

D.A.

G.K.