Update: Here’s a [link] to an article from the DailyStar
I just finished reading the latest statement done by the Minister of Telecommunication Nicolas Sehnaoui and based on what I understood:
– New measures will take place as of June 1, 2013 in order to prevent illegally imported devices & protecting the consumer from counterfeits. All imported devices (Smart phones and 3G Enabled tablets and devices) after June 1 2013 will have to be registered now at Alfa or MTC at the airport otherwise they will not work. This means that if you purchased a new phone from abroad, you will have to register it or else you won’t be able to use a Lebanese SIM on it.
– Knowing that the iPhone is not officially distributed in Lebanon, if the government allows few local dealers to sell the iPhone, it will be at least 25% more expensive due to custom fees and VAT. As for other iPhones, if you activated them and used a Lebanese SIM before June 1, 2013 then you will be safe.
– If you wish to sell your phone, u need to release it by sending an empty sms to 1014 then sell it. Also and I am not sure if I got this properly, but if you have two SIMs, you need to release the phone from the first SIM then register it to the second SIM.
I honestly have mixed feelings about these measures as I worry that even though they might stop smuggling and counterfeit products, but it will pave the way for few dealers to control the market and set their own prices. I read that this might be an advertising for phones with contracts as hinted by Alfa during the Arabnet conference but I am not sure about it.
Thanks Amer for the help!
This all doesn’t make sense. As in technically it’s not possible and even if it was that would require the registering of what? 3+ million phones? What about tourists? I think you must have misunderstood what he said.
The phones purchased after June 1 2013 will need to be registered. Tourists will need to register their phones at the airport if they wish to use a lebanese sim.
Yeah I read what you wrote and I call bullshit. There is no way that’s going to happen. I think somewhere along the lines he was taken out of context or whoever wrote the article misunderstood what he said.
Do you have another source for his speech? I have checked naharnet and DailyStar and both haven’t reported on this and Tayyar really isn’t a reliable source since they’re more like a tabloid than a newspaper.
I don’t trust Tayyar too but he tweeted the link to the article 😀
https://twitter.com/NicolaSehnaoui
And he tweeted a bit about the registration process yesterday as well.
And here’s a link from DailyStar
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Business/Lebanon/2013/Apr-18/214152-telecoms-to-lock-smuggled-phones.ashx#axzz2QnUMBWUR
thanks, just read the article and I still believe this is not going to happen. If it does I doubt it will last for more than a month before law gets scrapped. You’re going to have A LOT of upset tourists and $60mil is not that big an amount to cause all this inconvenience.
I added the note after June 1 just to make it clear.
shou hal bahdaleh !! thats so retarded !! lebanon will be the only country in the world doing that shit !!
this system is also used in turkey for your information
Hmmm this liar has been pulling a nice mask on for too long, but this time his BS won’t fly, trying to protect us from counterfeit my ass, it’s just the govt putting their nose in our privacy and their hands in our pockets
There is a similar system in north America, where service providers have mobile phones locked/registered to them which also means they would only work with the providers they are tied to however consumers still have the option to purchase phones that are not locked to any provider and use them freely with carrier they choose.
In short, if the intention is stop counterfeit phones from reaching the country, this is absolutely not the way to do it. The minister has another agenda but the public announcement has to be something appealing to elra2i el3am.
Unfortunately, Lebanon is a corrupt company and to stop the counterfeit or smuggling of a certain product meanwhile everything else in the country is counterfeit and smuggled is a a bit hard to accomplish.
No the service in North America works differently, the phone is locked to the network. What Najib is sayng is the other way around where the phone is unlocked but the sim will only work with registered phones.
I confirm what Mark said. If you bring an unlocked phone from abroad it will work with any GSM carrier in the US. If you take a “locked” phone abroad it won’t work… So tourists and Lebanese who visit during the summer will have to register their phones? that’s bullshit!
You can still purchase your phone from abroad, as long as you declare it to the customs.
Also, although I haven’t heard of anything this comprehensive, most European (read: developed) countries block phones based on their IMEI number. This is mainly done to counter stolen phones, which is why many stolen phones end up in places like Lebanon. I have no idea how they deal with snuggled phones, but it isn’t as widespread as it is in Lebanon.
As for the iPhone, it’s about time some authorised dealer gets on Apple’s case to have it sold here. And with the VAT, it should only be 10% more expensive than the US, if we aren’t getting ripped off.
I haven’t been to ANY European country yet where they required me to register my phone so I could use their sim cards and I’ve been all over Europe.
The iPhone price varies from country to country. In China and Brazil it is way more expensive than the US…
If in the US the device costs $600, you need to facture costs of shipping to LB, customs and duties, then add VAT so it will end up more like $700 if not more…
In Europe and the US your phone is locked to a given network when you buy the phone (at a seriously discounted price) with a given GSM plan (for ex 500 minutes, 500 SMS & 500MB of data) at a fixed price of so much (for ex. $50) per month. You’re usually allowed to unlock your phone from the carrier at the end of your contract (usually 1 or 2 years).
Also, in Europe and the US, if you buy a phone stand-alone, it is not locked to any network and you can use it freely with whatever operator.
Here in Lebanon, we pay a little fortune to buy a smartphone and pay an even bigger fortune to our operators – touch or alfa – for a shitty service, bad coverage. And it’s one of the most expensive countries in the world in terms of GSM.
So to make things worse, you now have to register your phone at touch or alfa. This will translate in huge lines and hours of waiting for the customers and confusion and helplessness from the operators.
If the MoT is serious about stopping illegally imported devices, let them start by going to all the Class stores. IT’S THAT SIMPLE!!!
BTW, Turkey is certainly way more developed than Lebanon is but it shouldn’t be considered a reference.
The excuse of “illegally” imported phones is a cover !
– Mafia war : There are 2 mobile mafias in Lebanon illegally importing phones. Part of this whole mess is a move from one mafia to eliminate the other as the first can have their phones “listed” legally or illegally (bribes)!
– No more privacy : It’s also a way to increase spying on the population and “enriching” their telecom data with all the devices you ever used. Although you can get a phone line under a fake name, it will be tied to your “Registered device”.
This whole initiative needs to blow up in their faces !
Unless lebanon produces mobile phones, there should be 0% taxes on imported phones and electronics !
Putting such restrictions does not solve the problem of actually monitoring illegal imports at the Airport and Beirut Port ! Solve the problem of importing anything illegally in Lebanon, not just phones. Import of weapons, drugs, electonics, medicine, clothes, counterfeit items, dvds …
This whole thing is a poor excuse and cover up for something much much worse !
Wait I am moving to Lebanon on June 26 and I own an iPhone what exactly should I do?
Should I just register my phone in the airport at a certain service provider?
one question, my phone is S3 it is locked AT&T
I am in usa and goind to lebanon so if I registered my phone it will work ??
nope it has to be unlocked
Bunch of thieves, they want to spy on everything and steal money from anything! We always clap for them, its our fault!
This is a simple example of pure stupidity and suicidal rule-making. I’m an expatriate, and when I visit Lebanon, I use my regular (non-Lebanese) SIM cards in additional to local SIM cards that I buy.
We spend thousands of dollars per week in Lebanon when we visit. They want to delay our trips by spending time with Alfa or MTC at the airport? What if they are closed? Or maybe waste a whole day after arriving in Beirut in traffic when I found out my native country enjoys sodomizing its citizens?
Last time I checked, sodomy was still illegal in Lebanon. So why is everyone at the Ministry of Telecom not in jail for sodomizing us? Oh wait, I heard Lebanese jails have become 5-star spas for crooks – never mind.
Should I register with the MPT, releasing a toilet paper and registering a new one every time I use a new one to wipe my butt? I would gladly do it! Looks like if I’ve been in Lebanon for 31 days or longer I would better be anal retentive and keep all my shit locked up where it belongs.
Mr. Minister: why not improve the internet infrastructure, pricing infrastructure to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship? Why not fix cell phone service and make it a little more comparable in quality and price to our neighbors?
Next time, I’ll spend my hard-earned money sightseeing in other countries… Maybe Israel? Flights there are cheaper, phone calls to there are free, no power outages, way more security, and the government is not trying to rape me at every opportunity it gets.
Thank you.
This is an old post. But since we have a new minister maybe he will consider changing this bullshit law ?
I just tweeted at him about this, hopefully he will answer…