Vodafone Egypt has retreated from competition over the license for international calls and roaming services for its customers and extended its exclusive agreement with the state-owned Telecom Egypt beyond 2007. The agreement between Telecom Egypt, which monopolizes international calls services in Egypt, and Vodafone Egypt will terminate by the end of next year. The move came after Vodafone International expressed intentions to buy an additional stake of 4.9 percent in Vodafone Egypt at LE 100 per share, and Telecom Egypt approved the offer for a maximum of 4.69 percent of the second mobile phone service in the local market. Akil Bashir, chairman of Egypt Telecom, said the approval came as a result of discussions with Vodafone on partnership in international calls services in return for increasing the international company's stake in Vodafone Egypt. The move will result in a rise in Vodafone's stake in Vodafone Egypt to 55 percent. Omar Al-Sheikh, government relations official at Vodafone Egypt, said the agreement with Egypt Telecom, signed on Wednesday, included cooperation in promoting Vodafone Egypt's services through the outlets of the state-owned company. Additionally, both companies will discuss regional initiatives to sharpen their competitive edge, based on their expertise in fixed-line and mobile communication services. Vodafone Egypt on Wednesday launched a new contact center to service clients of Vodafone Australia with VOIP technologies after a six-month contest with companies from India and Indonesia. The new contact center will employ 1,500 technicians by next year.
