CAIRO: The Egyptian daily economic newspaper al-Mal said on Thursday that Egypt is currently looking into offering a fourth mobile operator's license in the country. The report stated that if the current three companies in the market do not comply with pricing regulations, the government is ready to open up for a fourth license. “There are no obstacles to issuing a fourth mobile license in Egypt … but offering the licence will mainly depend on market demand in the coming period,” the paper quoted Amr Badawi, head of the National Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (NTRA), as saying. The NTRA did not respond to Bikya Masr's attempts for a comment on the information. The paper said mobile firms objected to a number of regulations, including that their mobile-to-fixed minute rates must not exceed mobile-to-mobile rates between networks. It added the NTRA had said it would not rescind the new policies. The three operators have been in a pricing war over rates and the government has pushed forward on attempts to limit the costs of using mobile phones for the public. Nearly half of all Egyptians live on less than $2 daily. “Before setting these rules and regulations, we sent queries and surveys to the mobile operators but we received no replies from the companies … (They) have the right to approach the administrative court to object about the authority's decisions,” al-Mal quoted Badawi as saying. The three existing licence holders are Mobinil; Vodafone Egypt, a unit of global player Vodafone Plc; and Etisalat Egypt, a unit of Abu Dhabi-based Etisalat. Etisalat is the most recent addition to the market, only coming into operation two years ago, but has already become a major player, as they initially undercut the rates of both Mobinil and Vodafone. BM
