Who has been granted 5G licences in Egypt?

E&, Orange, and Vodafone have been granted 5G licences, bringing the curtain down on an improbably-long saga. The operators attended a rubber-stamping ceremony organised by the National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA) and witnessed by Amr Talaat, Egypt's minister of communications and IT (MCIT).

What frequencies will Egypt use for 5G?

When it comes to the frequencies that E&, Orange, Telecom Egypt and Vodafone are likely to reuse specifically for 5G, the best guess is it will probably be their 2.6-GHz TDD spectrum. Currently in use in Egypt for 4G, 2.6-GHz is also a widely-used 5G new radio (NR) band. It has been fairly evenly distributed between the four of them.

How many 5G base stations are there in the world?

In addition, a total of 819,000 5G base stations have been built by these three telecom giants, accounting for 70% of the world's total. As China has played a leading role in 5G technology, its 5G development has extraordinary significance for other countries.

Which 5G bands are used in Egypt?

Currently in use in Egypt for 4G, 2.6-GHz is also a widely-used 5G new radio (NR) band. It has been fairly evenly distributed between the four of them. In late 2020, e& and Telecom Egypt each acquired two 10-MHz blocks, while Vodafone picked up two 20-MHz blocks. Orange got in on the act in 2022 with the acquisition of 30 MHz.

When will Egypt become a 5G country?

Egypt started making headway with 5G as far back as 2019, but by late 2023, in the months leading up to Telecom Egypt securing the country's first 5G licence, the NTRA was only just finalising the licensing process, aiming to wrap the whole thing up by the end of the year, possibly January.

How much did Telecom Egypt pay?

When Telecom Egypt acquired its licence back in January, it paid $150 million. That means the other three had to fork over $525 million between them. Beyond that, it's hard to calculate exactly how much each of E&, Orange and Vodafone has paid.