The telecommunications sector in Lebanon is known as the country’s oil, and this is being implemented literally after the start of talk about the possibility of raising the prices of recharge cards for the cellular phone lines of the two companies operating the sector on behalf of the Lebanese state.

In the details obtained by Sawt Beirut International, the prices of recharge cards are no longer the same as they were in the past, but without any official change, which means that the card recognized by the two companies, which was sold at a price of 40,000 thousand pounds, has become as follows: Some shops sell it at 45,000 thousand pounds, and the other at 50,000 thousand pounds. The reason, according to the owners of these stores, is the high operating cost, especially transportation and diesel, and therefore it gain a profit less than 2000 pounds.

But the most dangerous thing that Sawt Beirut International learned about is storing dollars for recharging when prices rise, and according to what is customary in Lebanon, a large group of people depend on buying dollars to operate services instead of buying a full recharge card. According to the information, recharge cards were sold for more than 120 million US dollars at an exchange rate of 1500 pounds to the dollar, to be sold when prices are raised later.

According to the information of the Sawt Beirut International, the Ministry of Communications is trying to control the markets by shortening the validity of the recharge cards so that these dormant dollars will expire, but in Lebanon there is a cover for every monopoly, and the one who pays the price is the citizen only.