A total of EP4.25 billion ($1.09b) is needed annually to go on with the new communications projects in Egypt, announced the chairman of the Egyptian Telcommunications Company(ETC), Akil Bashir in a statement to the Arbic daily, Al Ahram on Tuesday.
According to the official, the projects include the construction of new automatic telephone exchanges, satellite and ground networks and the automation of the company’s financial departments in the Egyptian cities, provinces and rural areas.
He said that his company has set up an ambitious strategy aiming at the development and modernization of the communications network in the country. The work plan will put an end to waiting lists so that any citizen can sign a contract for a telephone and have it installed on the same day, he pledged.
The plan also seeks the help of international investment companies to restructure Telecom Egypt, rehabilitate and retrain its employees on the modern systems with emphasis on the technical, administrative and financial aspects, with the aim of enhancing their performance.
Bashir added that the number of new telephone lines which will be linked to the cities’ exchanges this year will reach 1.6 millions, while 370,000 lines will be installed in the rural areas bringing the total of new lines to 1.97 millions.
He added that his company will begin this year with the establishment of one of the biggest wireless CDMA telecommunication networks with a 1.5 million-line capacity. It is anticipated that the total number of the network lines will reach five millions in five years, he said. The private sector will take part in the project and share the government the revenues generated from the new projects with the government.
Furthermore, the automation and development of the service in the Egyptian rural areas will be completed in addition to developing the Cairo network by installing the DWDM system. This new system will increase the present network capacity 10 fold and enhance the speed of calls and information transfer.
Telecom Egypt's president anticipates that the development process and the provision of a strong and speedy network for transferring data, information and providing the new audiovisual transfer service will be completed this year.
The state-run company will also instal 80,000 new lines based on the pair gain system as a quick solution for overloaded areas where the installation of new ground cables is difficult. A second project has to do with the installation of 200,000 new lines through the use of satellite networks to cope with the needs of remote and overcrowded areas. Tests on 500 of these lines are currently carried out in a number of areas to assess this technology and spread it to all areas this year, the official said.
Bashir said that a center for monitoring and operating the telecom networks at the national level will be opened in the fourth quarter of this year. The center is currently being established by an international company at a cost of 55 million dollars donated by the USAID – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
