Telecom Egypt (ETEL) denied selling its share in Vodafone Egypt in order to obtain mobile services license. TE added, in a release sent to EGX that, media reports showed that the only way to obtain mobile license is to sell its share in Vodafone. It pointed out that, it wasn't informed officially about this issue and there is no legal commitment to sell its stake in Vodafone to obtain this license. It is worth noting that Egypt's telecom regulator - the National Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (NTRA) explained in previous statements that TE and the other 3 mobile phone operators are facing six major problems related to quality standards as well as TE's claims to make amendments on the current interdependence accords to be in its favor. TE and the 3 mobile operators shall reach a compromise over the 6 pressing problems before obtaining the long-awaited integrated license, the source added. NTRA said TE has continued to back the network providers operating in the market in exchange for obtaining fixed internet services. The source further stated that NTRA is seeking to resolve the disputes between TE and its affiliate TE Data over ‘Converting Internet Customers' ahead of granting TE with the integrated license he has pointed out that interdependence issues between TE and Etisalat Egypt are one of the outstanding problems between the two companies which must be solved as soon as possible, asserting that the share of TE in Vodafone Egypt estimated at 45% which does not come within the points that targeting to solve by NTRA.
