CAIRO: Almost two months after launching its mobile operations in the country, Etisalat Egypt plans to bid for the second landline network license, again demonstrating its confidence in Egypt's evergreen telecom market. "The backbone of our strategy is to provide various services across the entire communications sector rather than limiting ourselves to mobile operations only, said an authorized source at Etisalat Egypt. "In Emirates, Etisalat offers services for landlines, mobile telephony, Thuraya [satellite] and postal services. Our decision to bid for the second license is in line with Etisalat's strategy. In a step that will open up Egypt's fixed-line market to competition, Minister of Communications and Information Technology Tarek Kamel recently announced Egypt would offer a license to operate a second landline network, abruptly halting years of monopoly by incumbent operator Telecom Egypt. "A bid for the license will be announced in early 2008, and the service will officially launch in 2009, Minister Tarek Kamel told the local press. Etisalat made its debut into Egypt's long static telecommunications market and opened it up to stronger competition when it won the bid for the third mobile network license - worth LE 16.7 billion - last May. The company raised eyebrows with its decision to bid for the second landline license, adding Telecom Egypt to its list of competitors along with MobiNil and Vodafone. Public-dominated Telecom Egypt, on the other hand, increased last year its tariffs, causing dismay among many subscribers. It justified that increase by deploying new stations and improving the quality of its services, which meant it had to add an extra digit to phone numbers. "Telecom Egypt is a long established company, and competition will not adversely affect its operations, said Ali Gamal El-Din Salama, Vice Chairman of Commercial and Financial Affairs at Telecom Egypt. On the contrary, Salama continued, a new landline operator might work in Telecom Egypt's favor and further boost its revenues. "Our cables and stations cover the entire republic. A new operator will not be able to efficiently cover the country like we do, so they will resort to leasing our stations, he said in reference to Etisalat's national roaming deal with MobiNil and Vodafone. "Who will be willing to invest millions and millions of pounds to build stations across the republic? Etisalat Egypt sees huge potential in the country's telecommunications market. "We seek to grow on both mobile and landline services alike, the Etisalat source explained. "Penetration rates on the market linger around the 25 percent figure which is very low compared to equally developed countries. "We want to offer consumers in Egypt quality services at competitive prices, the source at Etisalat added. "Through the second landline license, we can, for example, offer subscribers exclusive packages when they make a call [to and from] an Etisalat network. Etisalat Egypt managed to capture 400,000 subscribers by the end of its first month of operation in the country, and is currently close to crossing the one million mark. Meanwhile, the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) is currently setting terms and conditions for the license. "Our objective is to liberalize the communications sector and expand competition which will entail better quality services at lower prices, all acting for the benefit of consumers, said Karim El Kenawy, head of the communications department at the NTRA. "The liberalization strategy is being played bit by bit across all IT-related sectors, and our [next move] is to reduce DSL rates.
