A consortium led by United Arab Emirates (UAE) telecom provider Etisalat has won a cellular licence bid in Egypt for 16.7 billion Egypt pounds ($3 billion, or R20.8 billion), with operations beginning within the next six months.
According to Etisalat spokesman Iman Ibraye, Etisalat will take on 66% of the operation in a consortium consisting of Egypt Post, National Bank of Egypt and CIB.
Ibraye says the local partners have existing networks which will help Etisalat become strongly entrenched within the North African market. The consortium, he adds, will have to pay 6% of its annual revenue to the Egyptian National Telecom Regulatory Authority.
Etisalat becomes the third mobile operator in the North African country, operating alongside Vodafone Egypt and Mobinils.
Etisalat plans to launch a 2G network in the first quarter of 2007 and a 3G network by 2008, according to Ibraye. A company press release states the value of the 2G licence stands at 13.4 billion Egypt pounds ($2.3 billion), while the 3G licence value represented 20% of the licence value, or 3.3 billion Egypt pounds ($500 million).
Deploying NGNs
Etisalat is implementing next-generation networks (NGNs) in its other markets, with plans to create an NGN in the Egyptian market, says Ibraye.
"By establishing NGNs, Etisalat will be able to offer voice, video and data over one single source, enabling true triple-play functionality."
Etisalat believes the Egyptian communication market is one of the most exciting ones in the region because of its growth.
In terms of subscriber-base size, the Egyptian mobile market surpassed 14 million people at the end of 2005, says Ibraye. "Research shows a 19% growth rate."
Ibraye notes Etisalat must concentrate on building strong network capabilities in order to accommodate the growing market.
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