Mobile operators urge clear laws to ensure a ‘fair game’ with Telecom Egypt

Executives of Vodafone, Orange, and Etisalat are calling the Egyptian government to provide equal and fair support to all mobile operators without being biased to Telecom Egypt, which recently acquired 4G licence.

The three mobile operators were tackling their concerns with Egyptian Minister of Communications Yasser El-Kady during a session at Cairo ICT 2016 on Monday.

Meanwhile, El-Kady asserted that a new regulatory framework, which is set by telecoms regulator the National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA), would ensure justice and equality in providing the needed support for all parties.

As a result, many disputes were settled down between Vodafone Egypt and the state-run landline monopoly, Telecom for instance, the minister added.

The Egyptian ministry is currently addressing disputes between Orange and Telecom Egypt while on next December the latter’s dispute with Etisalat will be also considered, El-Kady said.

Commenting on the minister’s remarks, Stefano Gastaut, CEO of Vodafone Egypt, said that it is very difficult to achieve equilibrium between all mobile operators working in the Egyptian telecoms market due to the growing rivalry among now four mobile operators.

From his part, Jean-Marc Harrion, CEO of Orange Egypt, said that the NTRA has yet so much to do to enforce clear and precise rules of competition for all players.

Egyptian tech companies also have a role to play which is to provide their products at reasonable prices, a matter that leads to the adaptation of information technology within business sector.