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Money talks Figures published last month by the Kuwaiti-owned Zain Group, which operates Lebanon’s mobile phone network MTC, indicated that it generated a net profit of $27.1 million in 2010 under its management contract with the Lebanese government. The profits constitute a 42 percent rise on the previous year. According to MTC, it had 1.5 million customers at the end of last year, a 14 percent increase on 2009. Pre-paid customers made up 84 percent of total subscribers. Accordingly, the firm estimated mobile penetration in Lebanon to be 67 percent in 2010. Last February the telecom ministry renewed the mobile operator’s contract for a period of one year for a management fee of $2.5 million per month and 8.5 percent of revenues. The contract was markedly different from the previous two renewals, which were for a period of three months each under the current caretaker government.  In related news, the