The Egyptian telecom market used to be dominated by a state monopoly, Telecom Egypt (TE). While TE still controls all fixed-line telephony in Egypt, it faces increasing competition from the country’s fast-growing mobile segment.
The mobile market is just reaching maturity in Egypt – with penetration at around 70%. The main mobile providers are Mobinil and Vodafone Egypt (VFE), with some competition from the Gulf’s Etisalat.
Egyptians love their mobiles, and even the poorest demographics scrounge up the money to purchase cheap handsets. The market is extremely competitive, and particularly during Ramadan mobile operators offer aggressive promotions to boost subscriptions and usage.
The Egyptian internet market
Telecom Egypt’s TE Data is the country’s major internet service provider (ISP), though it is again facing increasing competition from Mobinil, Vodafone Egypt and Etisalat. The competition has gained market share primarily by offering USB modems that operate using their mobile infrastructure. The highly-portable USB sticks offer flexibility that fixed-line internet connections and wireless routers do not.