The Council of Ministers granted on Thursday September 11 Starlink, an international satellite internet provider that is a wholly owned subsidiary of American aerospace company SpaceX, the license to provide internet services on the Lebanese territories after six months of negotiations with the government. Mr. Tony Saad, a spokesperson for the Minister of Telecommunications Mr. Charles Hajj, commented that Starlink has already established a company in Lebanon and that it would cater its services for companies in Lebanon at packages starting at $100 per month. Starlink will be operating on a revenue-sharing model with the Lebanese government, whereby the latter will be allocated 25% of revenues.

It is worth noting that SpaceX, whose largest shareholder is Mr. Elon Musk, has started launching satellites in 2019 and has so far launched more than 7.6K small satellites in low Earth orbit.

In a related note, and in a long awaited step by the International Monetary Fund and international donors, the Lebanese government appointed the regulatory authorities of the Telecommunications and Electricity Sectors. In details, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) will be headed by Mrs. Jenny Gemayel and will also comprise Mr. Haytham Serhal, Mr. Mohammad Ayyoub, Mrs. Rajaa al Sharif and Mrs. Diana Bou Ghanem while the Electricity Regulatory Authority will be headed by Mr. Marwan Jamal and will also comprise Mr. Daniel Jeha, Mr. Ziad Rahmeh, Mrs. Sorina Mortada and Mr. Henry Daher.