Telecom Egypt secured the country’s first 5G license earlier this year
Telecom Egypt said it will deliver Egypt’s first 5G network later this year, beginning with services in the cities of Alexandria, Aswan, Cairo, Giza and Luxor. For the groundbreaking deployment, the carrier selected 5G radio access network (RAN) equipment from Nokia, including baseband units and its latest generation of Massive MIMO radios. The vendor will also provide “various professional services, encompassing deployment, integration and network optimization.”
In January, the Egyptian National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) granted Telecom Egypt the country’s first 5G license. The 5G license, valid for a 15-year period, cost the operator $150 million. At the time, the carrier’s Managing Director and CEO Mohamed Nasr called 5G the “backbone of future technology development,” and said that when combined with other technologies like fiber, will “revolutionise our everyday life and transform the way businesses perform.”
“We plan to leverage our licenses to our advantage to enhance the customer experience, fulfill the expectations of both consumers and businesses, while maximizing shareholder value,” he added.
Now, by teaming up with Nokia, the carrier is “at the forefront of the 5G revolution,” according to Mohamed Al Fowey, VP and CTO at Telecom Egypt. “Both our consumer and enterprise customers can look forward to enhanced mobile broadband and exciting new applications that leverage the speed and low latency of 5G technology,” he said.
Tommi Uitto, president of Mobile Networks at Nokia, expressed a similar sentiment, commenting: “The introduction of 5G services enabled by our extensive portfolio will open exciting new opportunities for people and businesses in Egypt to experience enhanced mobile connectivity. Our collaboration establishes a strong foundation for driving the nation’s digital transformation.”
Egypt made the top 10 list of African markets by anticipated 5G adoption in the 2023 GSMA Intelligence Report. The country is expected to have 47 million 5G connections by 2030, falling behind only three other countries: Morocco, Algeria and South Africa. As of the writing of the report, 5G services had been launched South Africa, Madagascar, Seychelles and Togo, Mauritius, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Réunion, Tanzania, Nigeria, Kenya and Zambia, and Mozambique, Gambia, Uganda and Ethiopia.
