Telecommunications Overview for Egypt

The Egyptian · 2011-08-09T01:09:25+02:00

Hello my dear fellow forum members. Since I have been working for the telecommunications industry for quite some time, plus I have been a computer geek for most of my life :D ..... Since telecommunication has become a more vital utility even sometimes more important than Water and Electricity, I decided to write about this so people can benefit from it. 1- Land lines Land lines in Egypt are monopolized by the state-owned Telecom Egypt. Land lines are the cheapest method of telecommunications, though it is almost phased out now due to the new products and services offered by mobile operators which have become so cheap that people rarely use land lines. The most important - if not the only - use for land lines at the moment is broadband internet (DSL). Before renting an apartment, you should check if there is a land line or not installed, because applying for land line in a rented apartment is a troublesome process and might take few weeks to more than a month (and afterwards few weeks for broadband internet as well, so if your stay is short it's better to rent an apartment with a land line up and running). Some caveats do exist though: 1- Some land lines are not "truly" land lines. They are fixed wireless lines (in some areas - doesn't have to be rural or new urban development - only this is available). These lines can NOT have broadband connections. 2- Check if there is a current or a previous broadband connection on this line with any ISP. You can ask the owner, or call any ISP and ask if you can install their service (they will tell you if your line is tied to another ISP or not). Because changing ISP is a tedious task that requires a "cancellation letter" from the previous/existing ISP. If it is tied, it is easier to resume contract with this ISP than change. Last but not least, remember that in Egypt land line is one thing, broadband is another. Meaning that ISPs and Telecom Egypt are separate entities and you have to pay your phone bill (even if you do not use it, to avoid disconnecting your phone and subsequently your Internet) to Telecom Egypt, and pay your broadband bill to your ISP. All land lines in Egypt do NOT come with International or even long distance service by default and I strongly advise you AGAINST using your land line for long distance or International for so many reasons. Stick to your mobile phone for such calls. The International dialing code for Egypt is +20. For Greater Cairo Area the area code is 02 followed by eight Digits. To receive calls for your Cairo land line from overseas, the number would be +202 xxxxxxxx (notice omission of area code leading zero, don't let that confuse you). To receive calls for your Cairo land line from outside Cairo or from a Mobile phone, the number would be 02 xxxxxxxx. Useful Contacts: Telecom Egypt Call Center : 111 Telecom Egypt website : telecomegypt.com.eg Telecom Egypt online phone bill payment : billing.telecomegypt.com.eg 2- Fixed Broadband Internet (DSL) It is easy ! All you need is have a land line, call an ISP check if they have the service available in your area, sign the contract, buy the router/modem and there you go ! Caveats as usual : 1- Don't buy/rent the router from your ISP. Too expensive and usually cheap chinese brand. Buy from any reputable computer shop from the nearby computer mall. You need an ADSL router and a splitter. For a decent wireless modem/router and a splitter you would pay around L.E 300 ($50 US) 2- Don't buy long time packages because broadband becomes cheaper every day. Useful Contacts: Etisalat ADSL : 0111234777, or 777 from Etisalat cell phone TE Data : 19777 Link DSL : 16333 Vodafone : 16888 3- Mobile Broadband Internet (a.k.a USB Modem) Sometimes you need mobile broadband for a reason or another, be it that land line/DSL is not available in your area, or it will take some time before it is installed and of course you need your daily fix of digital nicotine, or you are always on the go and you need your Internet everywhere. Mobile broadband is good, not a replacement for DSL though especially if you are a heavy downloader, but sometimes you just have to do with it. The three mobile operators in Egypt (Mobinil, Vodafone and Etisalat) all provide Mobile broadband. I'd have to warn you though that Mobinil is the worst. Vodafone and Etisalat are the best. Usually Etisalat takes the lead in new offers, promotions and discounts and Vodafone follows so pricing is almost identical. Coverage depends upon your area so for some areas both networks would be fast, for some others one would be better than the other and vice versa. Mobinil, Vodafone and Etisalat stores are all around town and can be found in all neighborhoods regardless of the social class of the neighborhood. Usually a USB stick plus a new SIM card cost 99 pounds (~ $17 US). Most data packages now are unlimited (but with different fair usage limits, when you hit the limit your speed is downgraded to painfully slow speeds until the beginning of the next month). For instance at the moment, you can get Unlimited with 6 GB fair usage threshold costs L.E 149/month, while Unlimited with 500MB FU threshold costs only L.E 50/month. You can buy packages as prepaid or postpaid. For prepaid all you need is your passport, for postpaid you need to prove ability to pay (credit card, car license, bank statement...etc.). 4- Mobile Phones Egypt has three mobile operators with GSM/3G. The operating frequencies are GSM 900 and 1800 MHz and UMTS/HSDPA (3G) 2100 MHz, so if you are bringing in your handset, make sure it supports at least one of those frequencies. Egypt has three modern mobile operators (Mobinil, Vodafone and Etisalat). Usually offers and products are very similar and copycatted down to the smallest detail. To check for offers, check the operators' website or visit their stores. Stores are available all around town. For a prepaid connection all you need is a passport and for postpaid you need to prove ability to pay (check section 3 above). Egypt is a CPP country not an RPP (Calling Party Pays versus Receiving Party Pays), which means you do NOT pay airtime for receiving mobile phone calls (unless you take your SIM card overseas for International Roaming), so you don't have to worry about it. There are so many offers by operators for cheaper International calling also such as call everywhere, every time for L.E 1.99/minute. Mobile numbers in Egypt start with the following codes : Mobinil : 012, 018, 017 and 0150 followed by seven digits. Vodafone : 010, 016, 019 and 0151 followed by seven digits. Etisalat : 011, 014, and 0152 followed by seven digits. To call overseas from your mobile phone, prefix the International Code with + or 00 (both work fine). So for instance to call the US/Canada, call 001-xxx-xxx-xxxx or +1-xxx-xxx-xxxx. To receive phone calls to your mobile phone from overseas, prefix your number with +20, 0020, or 01120 (North America Only) followed by the number, omitting the network code leading zero (so if it is Etisalat it would be +20-11-xxxxxxx, NOT +20-011-xxxxxxx). Useful links: Mobinil : mobinil.com, customer care hotline 110 (from Mobinil cell phone) Vodafone : vodafone.com.eg, customer care hotline 888 (from Vodafone cell phone) Etisalat : etisalat.com.eg, customer care hotline 333 (from Etisalat cell phone). Hope that helps. I am here for any telecommunications related questions.

Last activity 08 June 2014 by younes_92

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younes_92Guest08 June 2014 23:26:36

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thanks for the info

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