The Cellis company has denied official figures published by the Lebanese Minister of Telecommunication and Wireless Communication, Jahn Lewy Kerdahi regarding the number of mobile phone subscribers of the firm.
In a recently held press conference, Kerdahi announced that the number of local cellular telephone subscribers exceeded 800,000, according to the London-based Al-Hayat daily.
France Telecom-Orange, which owns 67 percent of Cellis shares, rejected this figure, claiming that the government had permitted the two cellular telephone operators in the country to have no more than 400,000 subscribers combined.
Recent months have been characterized by tension rising between Lebanese authorities and the French company. The situation worsened as the 12-year contract between the two, which was signed in 1994, had been terminated by the government without prior notice. ― (MENA Report)
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
