Egypt’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority are allocating 410Mhz in additional frequencies for $3.5bn
Egypt’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) and National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) signed a spectrum deal offering 410Mhz of additional spectrum to the country’s four mobile operators for about $3.5 billion.
According to MCIT, this is equivalent to all the spectrum allocated to mobile services since they were introduced in Egypt. The multi-year investment programme set up by MCIT, which will be overseen by the NTRA, involves spectrum in the 1,800MHz and 3,500MHz bands and the renewal of licences in the 2,600MHz band.
The four operators are Vodafone Egypt (the largest by subscribers), Orange Egypt (formerly known as Mobinil), e& Egypt (formerly Etisalat) and WE (Telecom Egypt), which is the newest entrant to the mobile market and state controlled.
The spectrum strategy is part of Egypt’s strategy to regulate and develop the telecoms sector, laregely via local and foreign investment. It also wants more efficient infrastructure and quality of services that align with international standards and the International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) recommendations.
Orange and Vodafone started the roll-out of 5G last June.
Initial tranche
In the initial phase of the spectrum investment programme, Vodafone Egypt has secured 2 x 10MHz of 1,800MHz spectrum, according to Vodafone Group’s African subsidiary, Vodacom Group. Vodafone Egypt will pay for the spectrum in four annual instalments, starting with €84 million in the 2026 financial year.
The operator said is has the following spectrum holdings before and after the acquisition announced today.
None of the other three have yet released details of their participation.
Next phase
The next phase of the programme is expected to begin in the financial year 2028 and conclude by the financial year 2032, during which the MCIT and NTRA will allocate 3,500MHz spectrum and renew licensing for 2,600MHz spectrum.
