The Egyptian National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) announced they decided to add an extra digit to all cell phone numbers in Egypt to 11 numbers instead of 10. This addition will be activated on October 6. NTRA said cell phone numbers will increase in number of digits by adding a number for each mobile company. An extra 2 will be added after the 01 code for all current numbers in Mobinil Company. An extra 0 will be added after the 01 code for all current numbers in Vodafone Company. An extra 1 will be added after the 01 code for all current numbers in Etisalat Company. The rest of cell phone numbers won't change. Executive director of NTRA Amr Badawi said this action will be executed, according to the international standards, to preserve stability of the telecommunications market and guarantee that every mobile owner won't lose his number. Badawi also said there will be a transitional period starting on October 6 that will last four months. In this period, the cell phone lines will work with both the new and old numbers and if one dials an old number, the caller will receive a voice message to inform of the new number. All mobile companies will be obligated to launch commercial campaigns to inform its clients on how to deal with the numbers' renewal. "This action was taken since current cell phone numbers are about to run out because of the steady increase of mobile owners, estimated at an increase of a million people per month," Badawi said.
