Telecom Egypt (te) signed an agreement with National Bank of Egypt (NBE) to upgrade the bank's network using fiber-optic technology. The new technology will allow NBE to upgrade the services offered to clients and other banks, facilitating secure data transfer rates and taking them to higher speeds reaching up to 10 GBs /sec. Hisham Okasha, chairman of NBE, stated that the new agreement comes as a part of the comprehensive plan of reform and development that was initiated in 2008. "The current stage requires more quality and flexibility to cope with restructuring of work procedures, introducing a number of banking and security packages, as well as geographical expansion of branches and communication channels," Okasha said adding that "the bank found in TE an ideal partner for achieving all its aspirations." An official statement issued by te read that for the first time in Egypt, the company would offer NBE a secure high-speed information transfer service, Next Generation Network (NGN), with "very competitive pricing." The statement added that the bank will get a package of upgraded communication and internet service for all its branches 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It will be responsible for providing the infrastructure for the whole network as well as securing all banking data. Deputy Chairman of NBE, Mahmoud Muntassir, said that the bank had to search for an ideal partner that has similar qualities and has capabilities that will meet the client needs of the bank. Mohamed El-Nawawy, managing director and CEO of Telecom Egypt, explained that the agreement confirms the telecommunication company's commitment towards the Egyptian market through "providing the strongest and fastest integrated communication services according to global quality standards." He added that the banking sector is in dire need of an upgraded communication service in order to compete in global banking. "We as partners are capable of providing high-standard services and we are honoured as a national company to offer our services to the whole banking sector, especially NBE," El-Nawawy added. Ehab Al-Wazan, the head of the IT Department at the NBE, pointed out that the expectations of Egyptian customers have risen in the last few years and that they depend on fast electronic services. "Our banking transactions are mostly done within the bank's network which has become an essential part in our daily banking and monetary services," Al-Wazan said. "We believe that this agreement with all its competitive privileges will give the bank a chance to increase our efficiency, benefiting from the advanced telecommunication service that the bank will get," he added.
