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Lebanon Approves Starlink License To Provide Internet Nationwide
The government has finally granted Starlink a license to operate nationwide for business users, with packages starting at $100 a month.
Lebanon has granted Starlink a license to provide services across the country, ending months of negotiations between the government and Elon Musk’s satellite internet provider.
Tony Saad, spokesperson for Telecommunications Minister Charles Hage, confirmed that Starlink established a local entity to secure the license. The service will be limited to companies rather than individuals, with packages starting at $100 per month.
Talks began in early 2025 after Lebanese President Joseph Aoun met with Sam Turner, Starlink’s Global Director of Licensing and Development. Turner argued satellite connectivity could support sectors including industry, banking, education and government services.
The presidency later disclosed that Aoun spoke directly with Musk by phone, extending an invitation to visit Beirut. Musk reportedly expressed interest in Lebanon’s telecom market and said he would consider travelling when timing allowed. Aoun’s office said the government was prepared to provide the necessary facilitation under the country’s legal and regulatory framework.
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Lebanon has struggled for years with some of the slowest and most expensive internet in the region. High mobile data costs, underinvestment and mismanagement have left infrastructure fragile and businesses reliant on patchy connections. Officials hope Starlink’s entry will give companies more reliable access, though consumer availability remains uncertain.
The license marks a rare step forward for a sector still weakened by corruption and debt.
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Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon
Foreign visitors will be the first users to benefit, but whether Syria’s own banks and cardholders follow is still an open question.
Visa is returning to Syria. Its first live international card transaction in the country was a test rather than a launch, and the milestone event ran through a Lebanese bank.
The acquirer (the bank on the merchant’s side of a card payment) was Fransabank Lebanon, with Paymera as the other named partner. Nadim Moujaes, who heads a Fransabank Group subsidiary, describes the test as both the culmination of “longstanding efforts to link Syria back to international payment networks” and “the first step in a larger path”.
Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa makes the first electronic payment in Syria using a @Visa card at a store in Damascus, following the lifting of US sanctions on Syria. pic.twitter.com/lpAN7nQ6Fc
— Tech Magazine (@TechMGZN) August 27, 2026
“We are excited to have successfully tested live transactions today as we plan to enable international visitors to use their Visa cards while in Syria,” says Leila Serhan, Visa’s senior vice president and group country manager for the North Africa, Levant and Pakistan region. Although a significant first step, that plan doesn’t come with a hard date for when a visitor’s card will work normally.
Mohammed Safwat Raslan, governor of the Central Bank of Syria, says the test paves the way for international card acceptance in Syria and that maintaining strong compliance, risk management and operational controls will remain essential. Serhan likewise stresses that Visa has worked within applicable legal, regulatory and compliance requirements. For a test transaction, it seems there was a great deal of attention paid to the rules, with the entire operation being carefully managed.
Also Read: Lebanon’s 5G Era Begins With 150 Stations And A $1M Budget
The test is the latest step in a sequence that began in December 2025, when Visa announced a strategic roadmap to support Syria’s integration into the global digital economy. In February 2026 it hosted its first industry gathering of banks, ecosystem partners and policymakers in Damascus and, the same month, signed an agreement with Syria’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in San Francisco.
Michel Kattouah, Paymera’s CEO, called the test “the return of international card acceptance,” but while that’s positive news, there’s no word yet on when a Syrian bank will issue a Visa card to a Syrian customer.
Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon
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