touch (formerly known as mtc touch) is a
Lebanese telecom company and one of the two
mobile telephony
Mobile telephony is the provision of telephone services to phones which may move around freely rather than stay fixed in one location. Telephony is supposed to specifically point to a voice-only service or connection, though sometimes the li ...
and
data operators in
Lebanon, alongside its rival
Alfa. It is owned by the Lebanese government, and was until May 2020 operated by the
Zain Group.
History
touch was established in June 2004 by Zain, and contracted by the government to manage one of the country’s two existing mobile telecommunications networks.
The operation was originally known as 'mtc touch', and was rebranded in June 2012 as 'touch'.
In November 2012, touch launched
3G/HSPA+ service in the country, adding 4G LTE mobile broadband services in some areas from May 2013.
As of 2019, touch operated some two million mobile lines in Lebanon, with 53% share of the market.
The
duopoly
A duopoly (from Greek δύο, ''duo'' "two" and πωλεῖν, ''polein'' "to sell") is a type of oligopoly where two firms have dominant or exclusive control over a market. It is the most commonly studied form of oligopoly due to its simplicit ...
market situation of touch and Alfa has been criticised for high cost of services, with the average Lebanese household spending 5% of their income on mobile services, compared with eg. 1.4% in Egypt.
In May 2020, the Lebanese government took back control of both mobile operators in the country, in preparation for re-tendering the contracts, with the Ministry of Telecommunications operating the service directly in the interim.
See also
*
Alfa (Lebanon)
Alfa (or Alfa Telecommunications, Arabic: الفا) is a state-owned Lebanese telecom company, founded in 1994, and one of the two operating GSM networks in Lebanon, the other being touch. Previously managed by Orascom TMT, its management ha ...
References
External links
*
2004 establishments in Lebanon
Telecommunications companies established in 2004
Telecommunications companies of Lebanon
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