(Ecofin Agency) - Egypt is counting on international cooperation to speed up the implementation of its digital strategy.  The country recently signed ICT and telecoms agreements with Palestine, Somalia, and Romania...

On Monday, June 5, Egypt's National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for cooperation in the ICT sector.  

According to the Egyptian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), the collaboration between the two regulators will cover spectrum management and revenue optimization, the provision of telecom services in remote areas, awareness and protection of telecom users, network security, and capacity building...

The signing of this memorandum is part of the Egyptian government's efforts to implement "Digital Egypt 2030," its digital transformation strategy. With this strategy, Cairo aims to develop its ICT sector and modernize telecoms infrastructure to make digital technology the driving force behind the country's socio-economic development. President Abdel Fattah Al-Sissi recently requested the support of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in this regard. The collaboration is expected to "strengthen cooperation between Egypt and the United States in telecommunications regulation and market governance.” It should enable the NTRA to ensure healthy competition between telecom operators and improve the quality and coverage of telecom services in the North African country.

According to the latest MCIT statistics, Egypt has 102.7 million mobile subscribers, representing a 96.95% penetration rate. The number of mobile Internet users is 72.38 million, representing a 72.2% penetration rate.  The country also has 11.68 million fixed-line subscribers and 11.32 million fixed-line Internet users.

Isaac K. Kassouwi