A new report issued by the Egyptian Ministry of Telecommunications said that Telecom Egypt have lost 700,000 subscribers through the end of April. The company's total number of subscribers reached 8.94 million people, with a monthly decrease of 7.41 percent, according to the report. In March 2010, the number of subscribers was recorded to be 9.6 million. Experts say mobile companies are to blame for the decrease in interest in fixed line services. To cut its losses, Telecom Egypt said it is studying canceling its “pager” services completely by next September. Mohamed Abdel Reham, CEO of Telecom Egypt, said that since the company partially canceled its pager services between cities, the usage of fixed lines rose by 400 percent, therefore the full cancellation is under way. Telecom Egypt, formerly the National Body for Telecommunications, became a joint stock company in 1998, only two years after the first GSM mobile phone service was introduced in the country. It is also hoping to enter the mobile phone market and is expected to pitch for Egypt's 4th mobile license later this year or next year. BM