­Lebanese mobile network, Alfa -- which is managed under license by Orascom Telecom -- says that it has carried out its first LTE lab tests.

The company said that as a result, it will be launching a 3-month Pilot Phase using a network of 20 LTE base stations. The Pilot Phase will include 300 participants, and it will span across a geographical area covering the administrative area of Beirut.

The commercial launch of Alfa's 4G-LTE service will take place in 2013.

Commenting on this technological achievement, Alfa Chairman & CEO, Eng. Marwan Hayek said: "We consider the Pilot Phase on the 4G-LTE service, which we will launch in November 2012, an important step aiming at gathering the feedback of users which will allow us to provide the best user experience when launching the 4G-LTE service commercially."