Vodafone Egypt is planning to spend some 9.5 billion Egyptian pounds (€1.1 billion) on upgrading its network over the next three years, with annual investments representing more than 30% of annual revenues.
The company’s CEO Ahmed Essam told Reuters in an interview that the investments would be financed internally and used to ensure the company’s network is able to keep pace with growing data demand.
Vodafone Egypt has around 39 million subscribers and is majority-owned by the Vodafone Group, with fixed-line operator Telecom Egypt also owning a 45% stake.
Egypt is finalising the details of a unified licence that would allow Vodafone to offer fixed services and Telecom Egypt to also sell mobile services, although Essam said Vodafone Egypt has not yet decided on which aspects of the unified licence it would want.
Under the new licence, Telecom Egypt would become the market’s fourth mobile operator, also competing with Mobinil and Etisalat Egypt. The company is expected to sell its holding in Vodafone Egypt by the end of 2015. According to Bloomberg, the operator is in the process on deciding on its adviser in the sale.
In January, Telecom Egypt signed wholesale network deals with Mobinil and Vodafone that paved the way for the two mobile operators to offer fixed services.
Egypt’s government approved the release of unified telecoms licences in September 2014 after some delay.
