CAIRO: Egyptian call centers are facing a crisis because of their inability to compete with mobile service providers, according to the head of the call centers department in Cairo's Trade Chamber, Ehab Saeed. Saeed said around 60 percent of call centers withdrew from the market and adopted other activities. Saeed said alternatives should be found to keep the rest of the call centers. He said such centers should offer other services, such as the collection of phone and mobile phone bills and providing official papers. He added that the department is seeking the required mechanisms to make cash transfers possible through the call centers from any one place to another inside Cairo. Saeed said the department agreed with Telecom Egypt to reduce the price of international phone calls to 1.99 EGP (U.S. $0.34) per minute and the price of calls to any Egyptian mobile phone to 15 piasters (U.S. $0.03) per minute. They will also reduce the value of insurance to be only 1,000 EGP (U.S. $169) for landlines and 2,000 EGP (U.S. $339) for international lines.
