COMPETITION between Egypt's three mobile operators -- the Egyptian Company for Mobile Services (Mobinil), Vodafone and Etisalat -- continued to be fierce in 2010. The clear winner of this competition has been the users who benefited from lucrative offers and each company's attempts to attract the largest number of subscribers. However, by the end of 2010, mobile subscribers in Egypt seem to be growing at a slower rate compared to the same period last year. According to Egyptian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology figures, in September 2010 mobile subscribers increased at a slower rate of 20 per cent compared to 40 per cent in 2009, to hit 63.9 million subscribers, or the equivalent of 80 per cent penetration rate. Mobile penetration is the number of cellular phone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants. According to MCIT figures, Vodafone subscribers reached 28.8 million surpassing Mobinil's 27.9 million for the first time. Meanwhile, Etislat's subscribers reached 7.3million. Fierce competition between the three mobile operators has resulted in the selling of many lines without an official contract and user data. Consequently, in a bid to eliminate malpractice, the National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA) has set up a new system for operating and selling mobile phone lines for mobile companies. It obliged all distributors to issue a clear written contract and to gather personal data on the consumer, including a copy of his or her ID card. Furthermore the NTRA forced the country's three mobile operators to block service to all anonymous users in April, as well as all those using non-licensed Chinese- made cell phones. NTRA said it believes that these phones affect health and cannot be traced as they hold the same serial numbers as well- known international mobile brands. These measures led to the blocking of service to 1.6 million mobile phone lines. Chinese phones had, up until then, been used widely by Egyptians who found them both affordable and practical.
