Egypt’s National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) has awarded 5G licenses to Vodafone, Orange and e&, joining Telecom Egypt who secured their licenses earlier this year.
All three operators signed agreements under the same terms as Telecom Egypt, according to the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT).
MNOs spent a total of US$675mn acquiring 5G licenses, which includes a renewal of previous generation licenses for 15 years. However, this does not include the allocation of new frequency bands.
MCIT Minister Amr Talaat spoke at a signing ceremony for the licenses, highlighting the potential of 5G to drive deployment of IoT (Internet of Things) solutions for smart cities and enterprise sectors. A more competitive environment will also help strengthen the IT sector’s role in driving economic growth.
Mr Talaat commented “We believe this partnership will be crucial to the success of the 5G rollout in Egypt. The agreements are a crucial step in our efforts to deliver advanced technological services to our citizens,"
Currently there is no 5G active service live in Egypt, but Telecom Egypt has signed a deal with Nokia to begin deployment of their 5G network, with a focus on key urban areas including Alexandria, Aswan, Cairo, Giza and Luxor.
The securing of new licenses will trigger demand for new infrastructure rollout, as all four MNOs will need to deploy 5G active equipment to meet coverage requirements outlined in the licensing framework.
Telecom Egypt has been in extended talks about selling its tower infrastructure since January, partly driven by the need to raise capital to support the capex for 5G deployment. However, the country’s turbulent macroeconomic environment and the conservative M&A attitude held by many of the regional MEA towercos has meant no buyer has been found.
However, TowerXchange is aware that the MCIT is trying to encourage foreign towercos to enter the market to support the country’s infrastructure demand. Currently, the only international towerco present in Egypt is IHS Towers, who secured a license in 2021 but has yet to deploy or acquire any infrastructure. But the group’s strategy of pulling pack to focus on its core markets mean there is unlikely to be any further activity from IHS Towers in Egypt.
All three MNOs (Vodafone, Orange and e&) are at various stages of forming a towerco strategy. Vodafone Egypt is majority owned by Vodacom, after Vodafone group transferred shares over to their African subsidiary.
Vodacom has carved-out a new towerco MAST Services in South Africa. Orange has been assessing it’s MEA portfolios for a potential carve-out or joint-venture although a lack of regulatory framework in many local markets has slowed progress. E& has not made any public moves, but at TowerXchange Meetup MENA in February 2024 an e& spokesperson commented that we can expect to see tower activity from them in the next 18 months.
