CAIRO: Egypt's telecom regulator announced Sunday that requests for proposal for Egypt's second landline network will start March 13 for a fee of $10,000 while the actual bid will start June 19, halting years of monopoly by incumbent operator Telecom Egypt. Local and international companies interested in bidding for the second fixed license could obtain a booklet of conditions after paying the stipulated fee, the National Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (NTRA) said in a press statement. Interested bidders also need to submit an auction guarantee of LE10 million. "Our objective is to liberalize the communications sector and expand competition which will entail better quality services at lower prices, all acting in the benefit of consumers, Karim El Kenawy, head of communications department at the NTRA, told Daily News Egypt. "The liberalization strategy is being played bit by bit across all IT-related sectors, and our [next move] is to reduce DSL rates. Egypt's Ministry of Communication and Information Technology decided last summer to open up the country's fixed-line market to competition by auctioning off a second landline network which is due to begin operations some time next year. Interested bidders include Egypt's newest mobile operator Etisalat Egypt, Orascom Telecom, and Raya Technology and Communication. An authorized Etisalat official told the Daily News Egypt that the company will gun for the fixed-line license in order to completely integrate its telecommunications services. "At Etisalat, the backbone of our strategy is to provide various services across the entire communications sector rather than limiting ourselves to mobile operations only, said the Etisalat source. "We want to offer consumers in Egypt new and good quality services at competitive prices. 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 entered Egypt's long static telecommunications market last year, opening it up to stronger competition when it won the bid for the third mobile network license, worth LE 16.7 billion. The company recently acquired the international calls gateway and further raised eyebrows with its decision to acquire the second landline license, adding Telecom Egypt to its list of competitors besides MobiNil and Vodafone. Besides Etisalat Egypt, France Telecom's Orange revealed plans to bid for Egypt's second landline license through MobiNil, its subsidiary network with Orascom Telecom. According to newswires, Egypt s Raya Technology and Communication is also studying bidding for the license through an alliance with an international operator. Raya specializes in mobile phone distribution, IT services and call center businesses. Medhat Khalil, Raya s chairman, recently told Reuters that a number of factors would decide if his company will enter the auction, including whether the license would incorporate international calls.
