More
than 80 percent of Egyptians will start 2011 with mobile telephones, according
to latest official figures which showed cell phone subscriptions grew by nearly
a quarter during the year.
A
state website said subscriptions as of October were 65.488 million, a rise of
more than 12.5 million, or 23.6 percent from a year earlier.
Egypt
is the Arab world’s most populous country, with about 79 million people.
In
October 2009, Egypt’s three mobile operators – Etisalat Egypt, Mobinil and
Vodafone Egypt – had 52.978 million subscribers.
The
head of the telecoms regulator told Reuters in July that Egypt was looking into
options for a fourth mobile licence, including a virtual network.
State-owned
landline monopoly Telecom Egypt has expressed interest in a new licence.
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