BEIRUT, Lebanon – In a significant move for the crisis-stricken nation, Lebanon has officially granted a license to Elon Musk's Starlink to provide satellite internet services, a decision announced as the country continues to grapple with its dilapidated infrastructure.
The announcement was made late Thursday by Information Minister Paul Morcos, who confirmed that Starlink will be authorized to deliver internet services across all of Lebanon via its constellation of satellites operated by Musk's SpaceX.
The decision comes nearly three months after a pivotal phone call between Musk and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, during which the tech billionaire expressed a keen interest in operating within the country's telecommunications and internet sector.
In a session that signaled a potential shift towards reform, the government also appointed long-awaited regulatory bodies for the nation's beleaguered electricity and telecommunications industries during the same cabinet meeting.
A Landmark Reform in a Crippled Sector
The appointment of a regulatory authority for Lebanon's notoriously corrupt electricity sector is a critical reform that has been a key demand of international institutions for years. This step, which was supposed to have been implemented over two decades ago, had been repeatedly delayed by successive governments.
The move is widely seen as a crucial step toward restructuring an industry that hemorrhages more than $1 billion annually. The state-run electricity company, Électricité du Liban (EDL), is considered one of Lebanon's most wasteful public institutions, plagued by political interference. Since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war, EDL has drained an estimated $40 billion from the state budget.
For decades, Lebanon has endured chronic, hours-long power outages. The situation deteriorated drastically following the onset of a severe economic crisis in late 2019. The country's infrastructure woes were further compounded by the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war that concluded late last November, which heavily damaged the power grid and other essential facilities in several parts of the country.
A New Government's Pledge for Change
Since taking office earlier this year, President Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam have pledged to tackle the decades of corruption and mismanagement that plunged Lebanon into an economic crisis described by the World Bank as one of the world's worst since the 1850s.
The licensing of Starlink represents a potential lifeline for citizens and businesses suffering from some of the world's slowest and most unreliable internet services, while the appointment of regulators is viewed as a necessary, albeit delayed, step towards fiscal responsibility.
In April, the World Bank announced it would grant Lebanon a $250 million loan to help alleviate the severe power shortages, underscoring the international community's focus on the energy sector as a prerequisite for any broader economic recovery. The introduction of a reliable, independent internet provider like Starlink is expected to provide much-needed relief and foster digital connectivity in a country where state services have all but collapsed.
