Ogero

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2022: Internet blackout in Beirut due to lack of fuel

On January 16, 2022, the state-owned Internet company in Lebanon, Ogero, warned of fan blackouts of the Internet and mobile communications, as its generators run out of fuel. This situation was another sign of the country's political and economic collapse.

Imad Kreidie, the head of Ogero, a state Internet provider, wrote on a Twitter blog that on January 16, 2021, diesel fuel ran out at a large station in western Beirut al-Mazraa, and it turned off. The shutdown affected more than 26 thousand subscribers, including the operational headquarters of the country's General Security Service.

Beirut was left without mobile communications and Internet due to Ogero's lack of fuel

According to him, by Sunday afternoon, a local resident donated diesel fuel, which allowed the station to connect to the network again. In another area in eastern Beirut, Ashrafieh, at that time diesel fuel had already run out, and he was working on batteries.

The situation is unbearable, "Kreidie said on the channel. - I will not agree to continue to hold this post unless I have all the powers and tools to do my job.

Lebanese people live on only a few hours of state electricity a day and rely on a network of private generators, which are also dependent on diesel fuel. This often leaves neighborhoods in complete darkness for several hours. Meanwhile, residents have to pay for many services, including huge bills to generator operators, which regularly change as the crisis worsens.

The country is dependent on imports and also suffers from a shortage of medicines, as a result of which patients depend on the black market, smuggled medicines and donations from Lebanese emigrants and civilian groups. Lebanon is experiencing the worst financial and economic crisis in its history.

The crisis caused the national currency to lose more than 90 percent of its value against the dollar, and banks, fearing bankruptcy, limited people's access to their deposits in local and foreign currencies. Inflation rose sharply, and prices rose.

Public and private telecommunications companies complain that they cannot cope with rising operating costs, including fuel costs.

Kreidie accused of interruptions in service in western Beirut of a public servant who did not sign a paper in time to allow him to buy the necessary diesel fuel. During the crisis, many public sector workers went on strike, demanding that their salaries be adjusted to take into account rising inflation and the collapse of the currency.^[1]

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