Minister of Communications and Information Technology Atef Helmy said that the ministry is in the last stages of completing the final draft for the new telecommunications law, which will be sent to the legislature next week. The electronic signature law has also been amended, he said. Helmy explained during a conference held on Tuesday that the founding committee of the national entity for the communications infrastructure has conducted 40 meetings to finalise its establishment, which will help improve the quality of services provided in the telecommunications market. He added: "An expert firm headed by Hany Serry El-Din will help complete the process of distributing the share, while another committee was formed to discuss granting a license to the entity." At the conference, the minister described the role of the telecommunications sector in developing the Egyptian economy, noting the sector's GDP amounted to EGP 58.3bn and is expected to reach EGP 195bn in 2020. Hesham El- Alayli, CEO of the National Telecommunication Regulatory Authority, said that the sector represents about 2.85% of Egypt's GDP. He also confirmed that 4 million subscribers left mobile services in April because of the lack of updated information, and that 3.8 million subscribers were suspended from accessing services until their information was updated, the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) and mobile companies indicated that they would continue operations to record data, as 14 million subscribers recorded their information this year as a result. Alayli added that the Board of Directors of the NTRA agreed to activate Internet services via satellite. The minister pointed out that the sector's vision is aimed at harnessing information technology in order to bring about a digital society, and allow the sector to contribute to improvements in GDP. Helmy hopes for communications' services to be available in all governorates of Egypt and emphasised the importance of developing government services that are provided to citizens. He explained that the ministry considered sector infrastructure a priority, including high-speed Internet, marine cable projects, and cloud computing services. The ministry is finalising the issuance of a communications law as well as free circulation of information laws. He pointed out that a digital economy is a stimulus that helps increase actual growth from 5% up to 9% of GDP in advanced countries, and the government is moving to remove obstacles that impede the transition to a digital economy.
