21 - 27 February 2002
Issue No.574
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 21 - 27 February 2002 Issue No.574 |
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Mobile mania's new buzzword
Mobile mania in Egypt has come in several stages. Yasmine El-Rashidi
Talk of the mobile phone network has been high in recent years. First it was the unprecedented coming of mobility to Egypt, then came the entry of a contender to the mobile phone market, and finally, it turned into a case of how the nation has caught mobile mania.
Mobile Penetration (per cent of population)
In recent months, however, the tone has slightly changed. Talk now has taken a slightly more serious tone, and technical twist. The local mobile phone mania has manifested itself in Telecom Egypt (TE) and the coming of its third mobile phone network. The network, which is expected to come into service by the end of the year, recently opened the floor to international companies -- inviting their bids to supply and install equipment for the planned 1,800-Hz GSM system.
As has been the case with everything mobile in the past few years, the tender is expected to be the talk of the town, and a point of serious strife for the bidders involved. Bidders have reportedly already submitted samples of their equipment to TE -- the nation's incumbent telephone operator. Eligibility requirements are strict, and exceptions nil. Bidders must have a lengthy track record to their name, with experience doing work for international networks a "must-have." The chosen partner will be expected to lay out a tremendous amount of equipment in a short period of time to enable the third mobile contender to spread its coverage throughout the nation, and snatch up a fair share of the country's mobile market. Or that, at least, is the plan.
Sweden's Ericsson, France's Alcatel, China's Huawei Technologies, US's Lucent Technologies, Germany's Siemens, and Canada's Nortel, are all reported to have expressed interest in the project. Industry sources say, however, that Spain's Telefonica and Turkey's Turkcell are among the most likely candidates -- if, of course, the company opts to partner with an international company rather than stand on its own -- an issue still under debate. Al-Ahram Weekly could not reach any top TE officials for comment.
Regardless of the final call on partnership, TE's unwavering commitment to launch the service by the end of the year is clear.
Technical and marketing studies are currently well under way, and the Telephone Regulatory Authority (TRA) is clearing the spectrum required for the end-of-year launch. At a summer TRA board meeting chaired by Ahmed Nazif, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, it was decided that in addition to the lump sum of about LE1.9 billion ($438 million) TE will pay as a licensing fee to the TRA, it will also be subject to an annual license fee for assigned frequencies.
The third provider is expected to create even more of a ruckus in the mobile phone arena -- upping further the current 3.25 million subscribers reflecting less than five per cent of the 68 million population. How big of a bang a third provider will bring remains questionnable. And while it will definitely be the talk of the town in the next 12 months, for now, it is all about partnership. Who will win the TE bid and become the provider's 'partner' is the nation's mobile-mania buzzword.
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