State sponsored execution

The Lebanese are in the unfortunate position of empathizing with Vladimir and Estragon, the aimless dramatis personae from Samuel Beckett’s legendary “Waiting for Godot,” over their own absurdist Internet tragicomedy. Recently, signs have emerged that the country could be on the cusp of reaching a solution to its telecommunications purgatory. But, with the usual governmental skulduggery abounding, should Lebanon’s Godot actually arrive he may more resemble the Grim Reaper for the country’s private internet providers. 3G in the news On January 28, Caretaker Minister of Telecommunications Charbel Nahas announced that his ministry was undertaking a project to bring third generation (3G) mobile services to the country over a period of seven months. Third generation technology is a means of incorporating high speed Internet with mobile devices such as “smart phones,” but subscribers will also be able to attach a simple device called a “dongle” to their computers and use the