(Ecofin Agency) - The Egyptian telecom regulator sanctioned operators for breaching the mobile number portability regulations. Telecom Egypt, Vodafone, Orange, and Etisalat were all fined EGP20.65 million ($1.3 million).

In detail, the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) fined the incumbent operator Telecom Egypt EGP3.9 million, Etisalat Misr EGP3.95 million, Orange Egypt EGP5.8 million, and Vodafone Egypt EGP7 million.

NTRA says the violations "were mainly related to the unjustified rejection of MNP requests, the unavailability of response to MNP requests within 24 hours from the date of investigation, or the non-activation of the number on the operator's network after MNP". For the regulator, MNP was introduced to guarantee users high-quality services and the penalty imposed on telecom operators reflects the efforts made to ensure that users exercise their rights in the user-operator relationship.

Sanctioning operators is part of a series of measures taken recently by the telecom regulator to improve the quality of services offered to the public, including the introduction of a new mechanism to measure the time taken to resolve user complaints from the moment they are submitted to the operator.

NTRA wants to accentuate operators’ responsibility in the telecom market. By ensuring that they constantly improve the quality of their services, the regulator wants to guarantee the population a very high-quality telecom experience.

Muriel Edjo