October 1999

Egypt Master Report

1. The interaction between business and regulatory constraints

1.1 The regulatory background

Currently, the Egyptian Telecommunications Company "Telecom Egypt" established under the law 153 of 1980 is the sole provider of certain telecommunications facilities and services in Egypt. It operates with complete autonomy in the telecommunications field with regards to both national and international operations, within the guidelines and general framework of the state.

Mobile telecommunications and pay phones were recently liberalised, and there is a growing trend for further liberalisation in the telecommunications sector.

However, the current legislation does not allow the productions and commercial exploitation of alternative telecommunications networks, other than the network of the state-owned cable TV station CNE.

1.2 Business constraints and entry barriers

The above-mentioned legislation poses a major legal barrier preventing the establishment and commercial exploitation of any alternative networks. In this respect, no organisation was yet found to have developed commercial alternative networks.

However, the anticipated liberalisation and privatisation of telecommunications services is expected to yield good opportunities for other (mainly private) organisations to enter the field.

2. Inventory of the major "public" utilities with a potential for use in I.S. applications

Currently, there are four state-owned public utility service providers in Egypt. Namely, these are:

• the "Electricity Authority of Egypt" for power generation and distribution
• the "Petrogas Company" for gas distribution
• the "Water and Works Authority" for water supply
• and the "Telecom Egypt" for telecommunications services.

Other than the Telecom Egypt, no company was found to be currently offering alternative telecommunications networks.