With the third mobile license being awarded to UAE’s Etisalat, Egypt is poised to accelerate growth in the telecom market. Low mobile penetration of below 20 percent, 70-million population and solid economic growth create favorable conditions for this.

The launch of Etisalat Misr marks UAE telco Etisalat going live in Egypt. Customer servicing for the new telco started on May 1, 2007 with an entry into a market with a population in excess of 70 million. Etisalat has targeted 10 million subscribers in Egypt for 2010, which will represent a 30 percent market share. The company launched the country’s first 3.5G network and mobile television, high-speed Internet access, and video calling, as reported by the news on DMAsia .

Arabian Business  published news carrying a statement by Mohammad Hassan Omran, chairman of Etisalat saying, "Egypt is a huge market with a population of 70 million, but mobile penetration is still below 20 per cent. This presents tremendous potential and we expect mobile penetration to go up to 50 per cent over three to five years. Also Egyptian economy is growing strongly. So the low penetration and strong economic growth will help us to achieve our aim of winning at least 30 per cent market shares in three to five years."

With communication technologies being renovated, a rising demand for catering to a wider base of prospective mobile subscribers and rising incomes, it was an opportune situation for the introduction of a new mobile service in the country. Additionally, over a quarter of Egypt’s businesses admitted that they would have been unable to start up without mobile phones.

Accelerated growth in Egypt’s telecommunication market is underway with 74 million people and a low teledensity of 20%. The awarding of the third mobile license to Etisalat, the UAE telecom operator for US$ 2.9 billion, indicates the high confidence in the potential of the Egyptian telecommunication market. Market deregulation has sparked off intense competition between the three mobile operators resulting in opportunities for telecom services and call center technology companies for premium products for operators.

The belief of some industry experts is that Egypt holds great promise for the third operator Etisalat for high-caliber services inclusive of second and third generation technologies to lure new market segments.

A research analyst at RNCOS concludes that with the fourth largest mobile market in Africa and the largest Internet market on the continent, Egypt remains a fairly low-penetration mobile market. Just 29% of Egyptians will be owners of a mobile phone in 2007. By continuing to expand subscriber base, the best opportunity will be created for growth until 2007 and beyond.  

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