Since 2019, the Egyptian government has been stepping up investments to improve people’s access to telecom services. Capitalizing on the shortcomings observed during the Covid-19 crisis, an emphasis was placed on rural areas and roads.
The National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) of Egypt unveiled, Monday, December 6, an investment of 513 million Egyptian pounds ($ 32.6 million) in the Sinai region to improve the quality of telecommunications services. The money that comes from the Universal Service Fund (USF) – sum collected each year from operators and directed towards the financing of national telecom coverage projects – will be used for the construction of cell sites in 30 urban areas, as well as 4 roads main areas in the governorates of North Sinai and South Sinai.
” This step is in line with the role of the NTRA to regulate and disseminate telecommunications services throughout the Arab Republic of Egypt, with the aim of strengthening national and social correlations and contributing to economic growth, ” said explained the NTRA.
The public body further stated that “ this step is in line with the state’s strategy to achieve sustainable and comprehensive growth, as well as to provide telecommunications services, in Sinai. This would in fact help to increase national income, create new employment opportunities and widen areas suitable for housing and growth ”.
This investment by the NTRA in the Sinai falls within the framework of the “Decent Life” project launched by the President of the Republic, Abdel Fattah al-Sissi to improve the living conditions of the populations, in particular through telecoms. This nation-wide project, in its telecoms aspect, aims to improve telecom coverage in heavily populated areas of Egypt, including the countryside, as well as areas of economic and urban expansion. It is also consistent with NTRA’s efforts to provide telecom coverage for new routes.
The Egyptian government, which has been engaged since last year in a vast program of digital transformation of the country, has made universal access to telecom services a priority. The objective is to fill the gaps observed during the Covid-19 crisis and to allow the entire population to take an active part in the digital economy.