Raya Holding Company for Technology & Communications will be launching the first version of its social networking website "Osharek" by the end of this year. Eng. Medhat Khalil, Chairman of the Board, stated that this website is part of the company's plan which will be directed towards the sector of information technology during the next stage, noting that the website is still in the pilot phase and will be launched by the end of this year. He noted that the website will make use of social networking technology aiming to provide local services for various villages and governorates such as making up maps for a certain village or district. Moreover, he pointed out that launching Egyptian social networking websites will provide a competitive new edge over rivals; the well-known networking websites such as Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus. As for the Egyptian website, it shall identify the needs of the final user and focus on the local content; while the other websites do not. This website will act as a link between the governmental services and the communication technology in order to provide governmental and local health services in different governorates, he said, stressing on the importance of supporting the Arabic content by increasing the number of websites which use both the Arabic language and new technology. According to a report issued by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, stated that the number of internet users in Egypt has dipped by 0.19% to reach 30.82 million users by the end of last May, while the number of internet subscribers has reached 37.65%. The report added that the number of land line internet users amounted to 39.75%, with an annual growth rate of 6.89%. Moreover, the number of mobile subscribers via Broadband has reached 90% while subscribers via USB Modem recorded 2.52 million users.
