Lebanon possesses different systems of communication and telecommunication. Some of them currently have to be reconstructed because of the damage caused during the civil war.
Concerning the telephone it can be said that in Lebanon do exist around 700,000 telephone main lines as well as 600,000 mobile telephones that are currently in use. Strictly speaking the telephone system was also one of those systems that experienced damage during the civil war, as already mentioned at the beginning of this site. In spite of all the telephone system was completely rebuilt. Regarding those systems that are responsible for the infrastructure for the whole telephone network it has to be stressed that in this context we are talking about systems which are, domestically, microwave radio relay station as well as cables, and internationally, two Intelsat satellite-earth stations, three submarine coaxial cables and a microwave radio relay station directing to Syria.
When it comes to free radio and TV broadcasting in Lebanon it can be said that Lebanon owns one AM as well as 32 FM radio broadcast stations. Strictly speaking Lebanon possesses 28 private FM radio stations. One station that moves between English, Armenian and French and one sole AM station which provides news and general broadcasts in Arabic are in possession of the state-owned Radio Lebanon. Radio Lebanon, being responsible to the Ministry of Information, also transmits Radio France International at 13:00. A few examples of so-called private broadcasters are the National Broadcasting Network, the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation (LBCI), the Voice of Tomorrow as well as Radio One.
Concerning the number of radios in Lebanon it can be said that there are 2.85 million radios in use. Besides, Lebanon possesses two digital cable television companies: Cable Vision and echonet.
The majority of broadcasters in Lebanon are privately owned and do provide commercials. The sole exception is represented by Télé Liban, the first Lebanese public television network, which is completely owned by the state.