Telecommunications In Libya – An Exercise In Post-conflict Reconstruction

Access to telecommunication networks has acquired a distinct strategic lilt in modern conflicts. It is unsurprising, therefore, that the Libyan civil war beginning in 2011 had a marked adverse impact on the country's digital and communications networks. Communications networks between the rebel-held eastern territories of Libya and the then Gaddafi-controlled west were repeatedly severed, with engineers in rebel-held territories having to invent ingenious methods to restore network access. Mobile telephone towers were stolen or destroyed, disruptions in connectivity were common and, prompted by security concerns, the principal network provider Libyana disconnected SIM cards held by foreigners. However, despite suffering significant infrastructural damage, the telecommunications network in Libya remained one of the more robust in the region.