Egypt Cabinet approves 4G mobile licence

Egyptian Cabinet approved late Wednesday ensuring licences for new 4G frequencies in accordance with the National Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (NTRA)’s standards. The NTRA will be responsible for the preparation of licences including the financial and technical commitments in compliance with rules and regulations of Communications Regulation Act No. 10/2003.

This comes within the framework of a development plan for the country’s telecommunication sector that is expected to put Egypt on top of countries providing 4G telecommunications services.

It was a long overdue step for Egypt to take, at a time when about 157 countries around the world have already included 4G services for their clients.

The fourth generation of mobile technology (4G) succeeds 3G by providing higher speed internet access.

Beating Egypt to it, Zain’s Sudanese unit announced Tuesday launching the 4G LTE services in a number of cities in Sudan.

In cooperation with Sweden’s Ericsson, a multinational corporation that provides communication technology, the 4G LTE service will be operated to include Khartoum, Port Sudan, Al-Ubayyid, and other cities. The Swedish company will be responsible for the establishment of the essential infrastructure while Huawei Corp will take over the next phase of the project.