Skip to Content »

Wireless Federation » archive for 'Telecom Egypt'

Telecom Egypt and Orascom Telecom to liquidate Algerian venture Lacom

  • November 17th, 2008
  • 6:23 am

Telecom Egypt and Orascom Telecom agree to liquidate their Algerian joint venture, 50% owned by both. Both the operators have been complaining about the state owned Algerie Telecom is getting greater preference in comparison to their venture Lacom, so now they both plan to exit the Algerie mobile market.

   

Minister gives Lacom a boost (Algeria)

  • February 11th, 2008
  • 1:34 pm

Algeria’s Minister of Posts and Telecommunications has promised to clear any barriers which are preventing the country’s second national fixed line licensee, Lacom, from competing effectively with incumbent operator Algerie Telecom. Boudjemaa Haichour has been discussing Lacom’s position with his counterpart from Egypt, Tarek Kamel. Lacom is a joint venture between two Egyptian firms, Telecom Egypt and Orascom, but has struggled to make a mark in the Algerian fixed line market, claiming that regulations are helping to maintain the dominance of Algerie Telecom. A report from El Khabar says that Haichour is promising to remove any barriers to competition and resolve problems which are preventing Lacom from doing business. Telecom Egypt and Orascom have both said that they will exit the Algerian market if the regulatory situation does not improve.

   

Telecom Egypt selects Alcatel for submarine cable network (Egypt)

  • February 1st, 2008
  • 11:58 am

Telecom Egypt and Alcatel-Lucent have signed a USD 125 million contract to deploy a new submarine cable network linking Sidi Kerir in Egypt to Marseille in France. The project, named TE North, will enable Telecom Egypt to expand international connectivity, providing diversity from existing cable routes. The TE North submarine cable system will allow Telecom Egypt to enhance its network capacity to operate as a wholesale carrier and expand its service offering to businesses and consumers. Spanning 3,100 km, TE North can deliver an ultimate capacity of 128 x 10Gbps on eight fibre pairs that will allow Telecom Egypt to provide broadband services to its business and residential users. It will further establish Egypt’s role as an international communication hub between Europe and Asia/Africa, and it will also reinforce the city of Marseille as a communications hub with open access facilities. The Alcatel-Lucent submarine service will be based on its 1620 Light Manager IP DWDM submarine platform, and will also include cable, branching units and submarine repeaters, providing direct connectivity to landing stations.

   

Orascom, Telecom Egypt in talks to sell Lacom (Egypt)

  • November 8th, 2007
  • 2:44 pm

Orascom Telecom and Telecom Egypt are in talks to sell their fixed-line joint venture in Algeria, Lacom. Orascom chairman Nagiub Sawiris confirmed that negotiations are underway but declined to name the potential buyer, Reuters reports. He said Lacom had suffered from preferential treatment from the Algerian authorities for the incumbent operator Algerie Telecom, a problem which could limit the chance of selling Lacom.

   

Etisalat Misr sees 3 mln customers by year-end (Egypt)

  • September 12th, 2007
  • 3:34 pm

Egyptian mobile operator Etisalat Misr expects to reach 3 million customers by the end of this year, five months ahead of target. CEO Saleh Al Abdooli told ITP.net in an interview at the Gitex trade show that the company currently has over 2 million subscribers, after launching as Egypt’s third operator in May this year. Al Abdooli added that the operator is in talks with three companies on the possible acquisition of an internet service provider in Egypt. He expects to finalise a deal in the next few weeks. Etisalat also plans its own international gateway in Egypt to avoid relying on Telecom Egypt for connectivity and will pursue the second fixed-licence to be offered in Egypt.

   

Etisalat seeks to end TE’s monopoly on international calls (Egypt)

  • September 10th, 2007
  • 12:50 pm

Etisalat Egypt has revealed that it expects to begin offering international calls from next month. According to CEO Salah Al Abdooli, the company expects to reach a deal with the Communications Ministry this month which will end Telecom Egypt’s (TE’s) monopoly on international calls. UAE-based Etisalat owns 66% of Etisalat Egypt, the country’s newest cellco which launched in May this year. The company has reported impressive take-up and expects to have signed up three million users by the end of the year, five months ahead of schedule. ‘Talks are in the final stages and we should reach an agreement this month. We could offer international calls by October or November.