The number of mobile users climbed to 100 million during this year, compared to 59 million users in 2010, Minister of Communications and Information Technology Atef Helmy revealed during a television interview earlier this week. Last month, global information and measurement company Nielsen reported that smartphone penetration in Egypt was high at 54%. During the IPO summit, which was held in May, the minister announced that more than EGP 130bn will be needed to develop Egypt's communications and information technology (IT) infrastructure by 2020. "The investment of the government will not exceed 15%, as the projects will mainly rely on the investments of the private companies," said Helmy. The projects are expected to offer 1m job opportunities by 2020, of which 200,000 will be direct, he added. During his TV interview, the minister added that installing high-speed internet around Egypt needs some EGP 45bn investment. In April, Helmy announced that Egypt has adopted a seven-year, EGP 5bn national plan to develop the communication sector and bring communication services to remote areas. Earlier this year, Egypt landed in the 91st position, out of 144 countries, in the World Economic Forum's report The 2014 Global Information Technology, declining 11 positions compared to the previous year.
