Communications in Egypt

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Egypt has long been the cultural and informational centre of the Arab world, and Cairo is the region's largest publishing and broadcasting centre.

History

Communication Fields in Egypt

Press

Egypt has long been the cultural and informational center of the Arab world, and Cairo is the region's largest publishing and broadcasting center. There are eight daily newspapers with a total circulation of more than 2 million, and a number of monthly newspapers, magazines, and journals. The majority of political parties have their own newspapers, and these papers conduct a lively, often highly partisan, debate on public issues.

Mail

Egypt Post is the government-owned body that provide postal services. Mail post is never considered as a reliable communication mean in Egypt.

Radio

See also Egyptian Radio and Television Union & List of FM radio stations in Egypt

Radio in Egypt is almost all government controlled, using 44 short-wave frequencies, 18 medium-wave stations, and four^{[citation needed]} FM stations. There are seven regional radio stations covering the country. Egyptian Radio transmits 60 hours daily overseas in 33 languages and three hundred hours daily within Egypt. In 2000, Radio Cairo introduced new specialized (thematic) channels on its FM station. So far, they include news, music, and sports. Radio enjoys more freedom than TV in its news programs, talk shows and analysis.

Starting 2003, Nile Radio Production a private company was given license to operate two radio stations, Nile FM and Nogoom FM. Nile FM broadcasts in English and Nogoom FM broadcasts in Arabic. Both stations mostly broadcast mainly to the Greater Cairo region. In the early 2009, Radio Masr was launched, broadcasting popular Egyptian songs, news & other programs.

Television

See also Egyptian television

Egyptian ground-broadcast television (ERTU) is government controlled and depends heavily on commercial revenue. ETV sells its specially produced programs and soap operas to the entire Arab world. ETV has two main channels, six regional channels, and three satellite channels. Of the two main channels, Channel I uses mainly Arabic, while Channel II is dedicated to foreigners and more cultured viewers, broadcasting news in English and French as well as Arabic.

Egyptian Satellite channels broadcast to the Middle East, Europe, and the U.S. East Coast. In April 1998, Egypt launched its own satellite known as NileSat 101. Seven specialized channels cover news, culture, sports, education, entertainment, health, and drama. A second, digital satellite, Nilesat 102, was launched in August 2000. Many of its channels are rented to other stations.

Three new private satellite-based TV stations were launched in November 2001, marking a great change in Egyptian government policy. Dream TV 1 and 2 produce cultural programming, broadcast contemporary video clips and films featuring Arab and international actors, as well as soap operas; another private station focuses on business and general news. Both private channels transmit on NileSat.

In addition to Egyptian programming, the Middle East Broadcast Company, a Saudi television station transmitting from London (MBC), Arab Radio and Television (ART), Al-Jazeera television, and other Gulf stations as well as Western networks such as CNN and BBC, provide access to more international programs to Egyptians who own satellite receivers.

Landline Telephony

Currently, there is a single company in charge of Landline Telephony, Telecom Egypt which is also government-controlled. The government is planning to start the process for licensing a second national operator for voice and transport services by 2008, with a view to this company starting operations in 2009.

Cellular Communications

Currently, there are three companies which offer cellular communication service: Mobinil, Vodafone Egypt and Etisalat Egypt. These companies are providing services surpassing voice communication such as 3G and 3.75G services.

Internet

Main article: Internet in Egypt

The Internet companies market is dealt to two: infrastructure providers and service providers. There are 5 infrastructure companies:-

1-Raya

2-NileOnline

3-TEData

4-EGYNet

5-LINKdotNET

There are 8 major Service Provider companies which sll their services to smaller ISPs. The highest avialble speed through ADSL technologies was upgraded to 8MB in download in February 2008 and then to 24MB later that year. The Egyptian ISP market is fully liberalized and highly competitive, at least in Cairo and Alexandria, with over 220 ISPs offering a range of services, including dedicated, dial-up, pre-paid and premium services. With the introduction of ADSL for homes and businesses, more subscribers are introduced into the market. It is expected that by the end of 2010 high-speed Internet access will be available across the entire country.

Orascom, one of the shareholders in the leading cellular operator MobiNil, is also the biggest player in the Internet service provision market and owns 75 per cent of Egypt’s largest ISP, LINKdotNET. The tie-up with the mobile operator is significant in that WAP services were introduced in May for a trial period, making Egypt one of the first countries in Africa to have introduced WAP.

NileOnline and Egynet has been recently sold to Etisalat, increasing Etisalat access into the broadband market. with this acquisition all class I tier ISPs mentioned above are owned by the major telecommunication companies operating in the country.

Raya is owned by Vodafone Egypt, Nileonline and Egynet are now owned by Etisalat, TEdata is owned and operated by the oldest telecom company in the region telecom Egypt and link.net is owned by Orascom telecom.

On January 27 2011, almost all internet connectivity to Egypt was shut off by the Egyptian government.^[1]

Wireless Internet

Egypt is following closely the efforts to standardize WiMax technologies as they permit simpler and faster access to Internet services, especially as WiMax receivers are integrated into PC processors. The government is still also holding discussions with relevant stakeholders to determine the best policy framework for introducing WiMax into the market through existing or new operators.

Communication Companies in Egypt

Landline Telephony Service:

• Telecom Egypt

Cellular Communication Service:

• Mobinil
• Vodafone Egypt
• Etisalat Egypt

Statistics

Telephones

main lines in use: 10.808 million (2006)

Telephones

mobile cellular: 30.047 million (2007)

Telephone system

large system; underwent extensive upgrading during 1990s and is reasonably modern; Telecom Egypt, the landline monopoly, has been increasing service availability and in 2006 fixed-line density stood at 14 per 100 persons; as of 2007 there were three mobile-cellular networks and service is expanding rapidly

domestic

principal centers at Alexandria, Cairo, Al Mansurah, Ismailia, Suez, and Tanta are connected by coaxial cable and microwave radio relay

International

landing point for both the SEA-ME-WE-3 AND SEA-ME-WE-4 submarine cable networks; linked to the international submarine cable FLAG (Fiber-Optic Link Around the Globe); satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean), 1 Arabsat, and 1 Inmarsat; tropospheric scatter to Sudan; microwave radio relay to Israel; a participant in Medarabtel

Radio broadcast stations

AM 42 (plus 15 repeaters), FM 14, shortwave 3 (1999)

Radios

3.07 million (1997)

Television Broadcast Stations

98 (1995)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs)

220 (2008)

Internet Hosts

5,363 (2007)

People connected to the internet

12,568,900(As of June 2009)

Country codes

.EG (Top-level domain)

Telephone Prefixes

Country Code: +20

Mobile Services:

• Etisalat: 11 or 14 or 0152
• Mobinil: 12 or 17 or 18 or 0150
• Vodafone: 10 or 16 or 19 or 0151

Cairo (Capital) 

2

(Includes following cities: Cairo, Giza, 6th Of October, Helwan, New Cairo)

Alexandria

3

Banha

13

10th of Ramadan

15

Tanta

40

Damanhour

45

Marsa Matrouh

46

Kafer El Sheik

47

Menouf

48

Mansoura

50

Zagazig

55

Damiette

57

Suez

62

Ismailia

64

Red Sea

65

Port Said

66

El Arish

68

El Tour

69

Bani Suef

82

Fayyoum

84

Minia

86

Assiout

88

El Wadi El Gedid

92

Sohag

93

Luxor

95

Qena

96

Aswan

97

See also

• Media of Egypt
• Broadband internet in Egypt

References

1. ^ Egypt Leaves the Internet - Renesys.com

External links

• Public domain text from State.gov
• List of Egyptian Newspapers and Magazines
• [1]