Research and Markets: Egypt Telecommunications Report Q4 2010: Mobile Market Grew by 6.5% in First Half of 2010

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/34a318/egypt_telecommunic) has announced the addition of the "Egypt Telecommunications Report Q4 2010" report to their offering.

"Egypt Telecommunications Report" provides industry professionals and strategists, corporate analysts, telecommunication associations, government departments and regulatory bodies with independent forecasts and competitive intelligence on Egypt's telecommunications industry.

BMI's Q4 2010 update on Egypt's Telecommunications market contains new operational and financial data published by the leading network operators and the country's telecoms regulator. Since the last update, new data have been published by both Mobinil (jointly owned by Frances Orange and Egypt's Orascom Telecom), and Vodafone Egypt (part of the UK's Vodafone Group) that depict the size of their respective mobile businesses at the end of June 2010. Meanwhile, Egypt Telecom, the country's sole fixed-line operator has published fixed-line and broadband subscriber data for the first half of 2010.

Based on the available information, BMI calculates that there were almost 59mn Egyptian mobile subscribers at the end of June 2010. The mobile market grew by 6.5% in the first six months of 2010. The introduction of compulsory SIM registration in May 2010 resulted in the deduction of inactive mobile users across the sector. However, this development was accompanied by the continued acquisition of new subscribers. As a result, Egypt's three mobile operators and indeed the sector as a whole continued to experience net customer growth.

BMI has lowered its forecasts for the development of Egypt's mobile sector over the next five years. An average annual growth rate of 10.4% is predicted over the next five years, with the 100% penetration mark expected to be reached in 2013. However, the existence of a strong multiple SIM ownership trend means that penetration will continue to grow beyond the 100% mark. Growth will also be sustained by operator efforts to tap into new growth markets, particularly in rural areas.

In addition to the introduction of compulsory SIM registration in May, other notable developments in the Egyptian telecoms sector in the past few months include the July announcement that two consortia had been authorised to start providing triple-play services to residential compounds in Cairo. One of the two consortia is understood to be led by LINKdotNET Egypt, which was recently sold to mobile network operator Mobinil, and includes affiliates of Egypt's Orascom Telecom. The other licence-winning group is believed to include Vodafone Egypt. The issuance of triple-play concessions to new operators is an important first step towards increasing the level of competition Egypt's broadband market.

BMI continues to estimate that Egypt had around 1.765mn broadband subscribers at the end of 2009. Around 67% of these were ADSL connections, with the remainder made-up largely of mobile broadband services. By the end of 2014, predictions of a total market of around 7.81mn broadband subscribers. Growth in the latter part of the forecast will be driven largely by mobile connections.

This quarter sees the introduction of new terminology to describe the different categories surveyed within BMIs Telecoms Business Environment Ratings. BMI undertook this change in order to standardise the Business Environment Ratings across different industry sectors. Egypt has risen from 12th to 13th position in the latest set of Business Environment Ratings for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

Key Topics Covered: