Telecom Egypt has signed wholesale network deals with Mobinil and Vodafone that together are worth 15 billion Egyptian pounds (€1.77 billion).
Both telcos have inked four-year international service agreements with Telecom Egypt. Under the terms of these deals, they will have wholesale access to Telecom Egypt’s international gateway services, rather than acquiring their own international gateway licences.
In addition, Mobinil has signed a five-year deal for domestic infrastructure services and Vodafone a three-year deal, Telecom Egypt said.
The agreements pave the way for Mobinil and Vodafone to offer fixed services in Egypt.
Telecom Egypt issued a statement announcing the deals on Tuesday, but it was more concerned with reminding the industry that it is hoping to add full mobile services to its portfolio in the near future.
"As soon as we are granted the long awaited mobile licence we will be best placed to continue to increase shareholder wealth and levels of customer satisfaction by providing a wide range of high quality and advanced services," Mohamed Elnawawy, Telecom Egypt’s CEO and managing director said.
The Egyptian government approved the issue of unified telecoms licences last year, a move that will allow Mobinil and Vodafone to offer services and Telecom Egypt to enter the mobile market.
As it stands, Telecom Egypt’s presence in the mobile space is limited to a 45% stake in Vodafone’s local unit. It has until the end of 2015 to sell that stake.
