Additional licence fees levelled on Telecom Egypt MVNO

Egypt’s state controlled landline operator Telecom Egypt is to pay six per cent of the revenues from its soon-to-launch MVNO to the telecom regulator as part of its licence fee.

The revelation of the additional costs on top of the EGP2.5 billion (US$360 million) MVNO licence fee were revealed by the head of the regulator, Hisham El-Alayleyi.

Telecom Egypt, which is 80 per cent owned by the government, and also owns a 45 per cent stake in Vodafone Egypt, is expected to launch its MVNO within the next few months.

It has also been given a year to resolve its stake in Vodafone, although the company has asked for two years, as that would then tie-in with the planned LTE spectrum auction.