Orange Egypt has gained new frequencies. The National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA) offered 30MHz in the frequency space of 2,600MHz with a Time Division Duplex (TDD) system. The frequencies were acquired for $440 million. While the government is expected to use this revenue for mobile phone services, Orange can deploy both 4G and 5G services on the network.
The company was part of the group that secured the allocation of new frequency bands 80MHz within the 2,600MHz band, through TDD. Other companies involved include Etisalat Egypt, Egypt Telecom (WE), and Vodafone Egypt. This scheme resulted in an income of $1.61billion for the government.
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The strategic focus of this exercise is to improve the quality of telecommunication services. It is believed that Egypt would experience a rise in network-readiness level.
In 2020, local media asserted that Orange missed the acquisition of new frequencies. They were the only telecommunication company that missed the opportunity. In that bid, Orange lost out in the auction to Etisalat. Hence, competitors such as Vodafone Egypt bought two 20-MHz bands, while Telecom Egypt and Etisalat Misr got two 10-MHz bands each.
Orange Egypt is the second biggest mobile operator in Egypt. The company has 27 per cent of the market according to Omdia with Vodafone Egypt having 43 per cent. Of the market. While Etisalat had 22 per cent.