Lebanon licenses Elon Musk's Starlink for satellite internet services

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BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon has granted a license to Elon Musk’s Starlink to provide satellite internet services in the crisis-hit country known for its crumbling infrastructure.

The announcement was made late Thursday by Information Minister Paul Morcos who said Starlink will provide internet services throughout Lebanon via satellites operated by Musk’s SpaceX.

The announcement came nearly three months after Musk spoke with Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun by telephone and told him about his interest in working in the country’s telecommunications and internet sectors.

During the same Cabinet meeting, the government named regulatory authorities for the country’s electricity and telecommunications sectors.

Naming a regulatory authority for Lebanon’s corruption-plagued electricity sector has been a key demand by international organizations.

The naming of a regulatory authority for the electricity sector was supposed to be done more than 20 years ago but there have been repeated delays by the country’s authorities. The move is seen as a key reform for a sector that wastes over $1 billion a year in the small Mediterranean nation.

State-run Electricite du Liban, or EDL, is viewed as one of Lebanon’s most wasteful institutions and plagued by political interference. It has cost state coffers about $40 billion since the 1975-90 civil war ended.

Since taking office earlier this year, Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam have vowed to work on implementing reforms and fighting corruption and decades-old mismanagement to get Lebanon out of an economic crisis that the World Bank has described as among the world’s worst since the 1850s.

Lebanon has for decades faced long hours of electricity cuts but the situation became worse following an economic meltdown that began in late 2019. The 14-month Israel-Hebzollah war that ended in late November also badly damaged electricity and other infrastructure in parts of Lebanon.

In April, the World Bank said it will grant Lebanon a $250 million loan that will be used to help ease electricity cuts.