- Telecom Egypt has signed an agreement with Hungarian telecom company 4iG Group to modernise the country’s digital infrastructure.
- The two countries will invest $600 million over the next decade to bring high-speed Internet access to at least 6 million homes.
OUR TAKE
Earlier this year, 4iG also signed a separate memorandum of understanding with Telecom Egypt to deploy a submarine cable between Egypt and Albania, the company’s first foray into the submarine cable industry.
–Zora Lin, BTW reporter
What happened
Telecom Egypt and Hungarian telecom company 4iG Group will form a joint venture to build, operate and commercialise wholesale fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) and fibre-to-the-station (FTTS) access infrastructure in Egypt.
The two countries will invest $600 million over the next decade to build a modern fiber-optic network that will provide high-speed Internet access to at least 6 million homes. The project is aligned with the Egyptian government’s “Digital Egypt” and “Egypt Vision 2030” strategies.
4iG Group and Telecom Egypt have yet to agree on the business model, exact ownership structure, governance process and technical details of the joint venture.
Also read: Discovering the power of fibre optic networks
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Why it’s important
The fibre-to-the-station portion of the network will unlock greater capacity in Egypt’s mobile network, increase capacity and facilitate faster rollout of 5G, driving the development of smart cities and the Internet of Things.
In addition to 5G, Mohamed Nasr, Managing Director and CEO of Telecom Egypt, said, “We look forward to this effort, which will provide unparalleled performance and future-proof connectivity for future generations, while ensuring that we maintain our position as one of Egypt’s leading ICT providers.”
Egypt’s Internet infrastructure has received significant investment from Telecom Egypt and other players over the past six years, during which time Internet speeds have increased tenfold.
