Egypt's Minister of Communications and Information Technology (ICT), Amr Talaat, told reporters on Wednesday that land-line data services outside Ramses exchange remained unaffected and continued to operate normally. Within the immediate area, however, services were fully disrupted but have since been partially restored, with full recovery expected by the end of the day. Talaat added that voice services outside the area were restored by 6am on Tuesday, while restoration within the affected zone is still underway. His remarks came during a visit to Ramses exchange in downtown Cairo to assess the aftermath of the recent fire and oversee ongoing telecommunications recovery efforts. Mobile Services The minister said that voice services from all four operators—Orange, Vodafone, Etisalat, and WE—initially saw a decline in quality outside Ramses exchange but have since recovered to 95 per cent of normal levels. Within the affected area, quality of service dropped significantly, though emergency alternatives were implemented by late Tuesday. Full recovery is currently under way, the minister stated. Essential Public Services Talaat added that banking services experienced minor disruptions, mainly affecting a limited number of institutions without backup connectivity. Most issues were resolved by 9 am on Tuesday, with full restoration expected by the end of Wednesday. The Egyptian Stock Exchange resumed normal trading on Wednesday after suspending Tuesday's session as a precaution, despite services being restored on the night of the fire. Services provided by the Ministry of Supply continued without interruption, while EgyptAir and airport operations experienced limited disruption and were fully restored within two hours. Police hotlines remained unaffected. However, ambulance line 123 experienced outages in some governorates. The service was restored by 4 p.m. on Tuesday, with temporary alternative numbers provided during the outage. Talaat reaffirmed the ministry's commitment to ensuring uninterrupted services and enabling swift recovery through effective contingency measures. Attribution: Amwal Al Ghad English Subediting: M. S. Salama
