Within context of the NTRA regulation to the market and its support to the principles of transparency and non-discrimination between competing companies, Etisalat Misr; the most recent mobile operator in the market, signed an interconnection agreement with each of Mobinil and Vodafone Egypt on Monday, May 7 at the NTRA headquarter in the Smart Village. In accordance with the article 28 of the Telecom Law no 10/ 2003, telecom service providers have to sign an interconnection agreement between each other. The Telecom law authorizes the NTRA to lay down the interconnection and dispute settlement regulations. Interconnection agreements aim at supporting the principles of transparency and non-discrimination. The recently-signed agreement enjoys a special significance as it set the basis for the technical, regulatory and commercial connections between Etisalat Misr and the other two operators. The agreement on the other hand marks a tangible success for NTRA which has intervened to settle the dispute between the operators and managed to persuade them to sign the agreement. It is worth mentioning in this regard that Mobinil and Vodafone Egypt had already signed an interconnection agreement on September 24, 2001 and the agreement was then amended on January 27, 2005 upon request of both companies. These agreements foster the commitment of all telecom service providing companies in Egypt to operate in accordance with the Egyptian law and meanwhile strengthen the authority of the NTRA with regards to dispute settlement.
