Egypt will have more GSM lines than PSTN fixed lines in 2005.

A newly released report from the Arab Advisors Group (www.arabadvisors.com) fully analyzes the Egyptian communications market. The report projects Egypt's GSM and fixed revenues to exceed US$ 3.17 billion by 2006, up by US$ 1.3 billion from revenues in 2001. PSTN revenues will make up 41% of total revenues in 2006, down from 45% in 2001.

March 19, 2002 -

The Egyptian Telecommunications regulatory landscape is currently undergoing a fourth regulatory phase. This phase will end with the liberalization of all communications markets by 2005. Telecom Egypt's monopoly over PSTN and International connectivity is expected to end by 2005. Subsequently the GSM operators, are expected to lobby for installing their own international switches.

A new report, entitled Egypt Communications Projections report 2002, was released to the Arab Advisors Group's (www.arabadvisors.com) Strategic Research Service subscribers in March 2002. The 53-pages report is the culmination of painstaking primary research over more than two months by Arab Advisors Group's analysts. The report found that Egypt, the largest Arab communications market, is undergoing some fundamental changes by way of liberalization and privatization.

"The partial privatization of Telecom Egypt remains on the cards but has been delayed several times. The adverse global equity market conditions narrows the maneuvering space for the Egyptian government as it seeks a strategic partner for the government owned telecom mammoth. Fears of massive job losses at the operator also add to the uncertainty. Telecom Egypt is expected to launch the country's third GSM license in 2003 which heightens the need for global expertise at its helm in order not to repeat its failed GSM experiment before 1998." Wrote Mr. Shahin Shahin, Arab Advisors Analyst in the report.

"The new telecom law, currently under review, directly refers to BOT (build-operate-transfer) and BOO (build-own operate) models. This will open the door for more domestic and foreign private sectors' involvements in the Egyptian telecom infrastructure projects. A BOT agreement for deploying some 1.5 million WLL by 2007 is currently being finalized between the ministry and a private consortium. Telecom Egypt will receive revenue sharing proceeds and the venture will not compete with Telecom Egypt." Mr. Shahin noted.

The Arab Advisors Group (www.arabadvisors.com) projects PSTN penetration in Egypt to grow from 10% to more than 14% by 2006. In parallel, GSM penetration is projected to almost reach 17% by 2006. Egypt's GSM and fixed revenues will exceed US$ 3.17 billion by 2006.

The Egypt Communications Projections Report-2002 includes 5-year historical figures on 40 plus indicators of the communications market as well as 5-year projections (till 2006). The report's table of content can be downloaded in PDF format from Arab Advisors Group's web page (www.arabadvisors.com). The report analyses the operations of all the companies in the market and presents detailed profiles of their operations and strategy.