Indicators recently issued by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) for July 2016 showed that the three mobile operators, Vodafone, Orange, and Etisalat, attracted a total number of 189,400 new customers in July, lifting the number of mobile service subscribers from 96.22m in June to 96.4m in July. MCIT stated that Orange gained the most customers as the company signed 96,700 new contracts, boosting its total number of customers from 33.6m in June to 33.7m in July. As for Vodafone, the company attracted 89,700 new customers in June, increasing its total number subscribers from 39.8m to 39.9m in July. Vodafone is currently in the lead out of the three mobile operators in terms of numbers of subscribers. Etisalat was least successful in attracting customers in July with only 2,800 new subscribers. The increase boosted its number of subscribers from 22.7m in June to 22.78m. The number of landline customers also increased in July by 187,700 new accounts, which increased the total landline customers in Egypt from 5.9m in June to 6.2m in July. The mobile service market is expected to see fierce competition in the coming period, after Telecom Egypt received the licence for offering mobile and 4G services, becoming Egypt's first integrated communication company. The other three mobile operators have also obtained licensing to offer landline services. Telecom Egypt paid EGP 7.08bn for the 4G licence in August. The National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) recently signed the 4G licence with Vodafone for $335m, while Orange paid $484m for the licence. Meanwhile, Etisalat paid slightly higher for its 4G licence, signing a contract for $535.5m. The operators aim to begin offering landline services using Telecom Egypt's infrastructure. Each of the three companies paid $11.27m for this license.
