BEIRUT: Most Lebanese cable providers stopped broadcasting Al-Jazeera channels earlier this week to protest the Qatari corporation’s demand for new fees from local cable providers.

The popular news channel was taken off the air Tuesday and all Al-Jazeera channels on televisions in Beirut, Mount Lebanon, Kesrouan and the north were replaced by a note broadcasted by a group of cable providers.

“We apologize to our viewers for ending the broadcast of Al-Jazeera channels ... the decision was made as a result of warnings issued by Al-Jazeera to cable providers in Lebanon to impose additional chargers on viewers,” said the note.

“Al-Jazeera has called for a charge of $1.50 from every cable subscriber in the country [who receives their channels] in addition to the monthly charge for their cable ... Customers cannot pay such an amount of money to watch Al-Jazeera,” said one cable provider in Ashrafieh.

But the new fees are only part of their grievances. Cable providers in Beirut told The Daily Star that Al-Jazeera had sold broadcasting rights to all its sports channels to a single cable provider from the Beirut southern suburbs for $1 million.

The broadcasting license owner, identified as Mohammad Mansour, has asked the Lebanese authorities to shut down other stations that are still broadcasting Al-Jazeera sports channels.

United Cable Lebanon, one of the biggest digital cable operators, shut down all Al-Jazeera channels to protest Al-Jazeera’s demands for the additional fee.

Sleiman Farah, a board member of UCL, said the company was willing to pay the fees to Al-Jazeera, but he argued that the fee should be consistent with the financial capacity of the Lebanese.

Farah also argued that the absence of lending rights in the country had made Lebanon powerless in the face of satellite companies.

In recent years, Lebanese cable providers have been working to establish a national umbrella organization in an attempt to win the government’s support and protection from regional and international satellite corporations.

“In Lebanon there are no lending rights that could protect both the copyright of Al-Jazeera and the rights of the viewers,” said Farah.

According to Farah, broadcast rights are being exploited by businessmen who have been making deals with the foreign satellite companies to exploit the Lebanese market.

Farah said the Lebanese government should have a role in the pricing of foreign licenses in the country. “I don’t think it is reasonable that Iraq pays $1 million, while Lebanon pays $5 million for the OSN,” he added.

Orbit Showtime Network is a popular satellite company based in Dubai. OSN is also viewed widely in Lebanon and is also fighting for the protection of its copyright.

“The only role the government has played so far is in protecting the rights of the Lebanese broadcast license holder of Al-Jazeera,” said Farah.

Farah added that government failure to protect local cable providers could result in collapse of the whole sector.