Egypt’s New Mobile Rules affects New Entrants Only

Egypt’s communications ministry has said that the proposed amendments to a law requiring mobile telecoms operators to give a percentage of their shares to Egyptians would apply only to new license operators.

The proposed amendments aim to ensure 20% of the shares in a local telecoms business were owned by Egyptians, as Reuters stated.

“The proposed amendments to the telecommunications regulatory law in parliament are limited to new licenses and won’t be applied to existing operators,” said a ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity. “They will be applied to the fourth operator in case it exists.”