Egypt News

The Cairo-based company currently has a 45 percent stake in Vodafone Egypt and would be “definitely interested” if Vodafone Group Plc offered a larger stake in the unit, he said.

Egypt’s government is offering two licenses for phone, Internet and television services in closed residential compounds across the country, ending Telecom Egypt’s monopoly. The government expects operators to invest $1 billion in the next five years, Telecommunications Minister Tarek Kamel said on Sept. 30.

The Egyptian Co. for Mobile Services and Orascom Telecom Holding SAE have expressed interest in bidding for the licenses, which will be restricted to compounds with up to 5,000 housing units. Anything larger will continue to be supplied by Telecom Egypt.

With Telecom Egypt and three other mobile providers, Egypt has “enough players,” Tantawy said. “More and this could be value destruction with less investment in the networks.”

The company, which currently offers voice, data and video services through one high-speed connection in a Cairo suburb, expects to increase the number of broadband subscribers by up to 60 percent next year from the current 100,000 customers, he said.

Telecom Egypt will increase its annual dividend for a fifth-straight year, he said.

The shares dropped 1.8 percent to 18.38 pounds in Egyptian trading. The stock has risen 13 percent this year.

EGYPT NEWS

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