Egypt's sole landline operator Telecom Egypt (TE) recorded a net profit of EGP 549m in the first quarter (Q1) of 2014, marking a 21% increase quarter on quarter, TE announced on Tuesday. The company added that its profit has slumped by 1.04% year on year. TE's consolidated revenues from January to March 2014 registered EGP 2.56bn, marking a 5.6% year on year decrease, while profits were valued at EGP 805m. The number of high-speed internet subscribers has increased by 24.3% in Q1 compared to the same period last year, the firm added. Despite the instability of the landline market, TE was able to "slightly" improve its performance due to the development and modernisation operations of the network. The demand on internet services for mobile phones has increased by 48% over the past three years, according to a statement from TE. In Q4 2013, TE reported a year-on-year net loss of $749m, marking a 59% decrease. Meanwhile, revenues fell from $908m during the same period last year to $834m. TE, which is 80% owned by the government, was permitted in April to offer mobile services for an EGP 2.5bn charge following the approval of the unified licence system by the National Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (NTRA). Under the new licence, each of Egypt's three mobile service providers, Vodafone, Mobinil and Etisalat, will be required to pay EGP 100m to provide landline services.
