The National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Egypt (NTRA) has announced the removal of unlicensed wireless networks from major areas in Giza.
NTRA took legal actions, and escorted by inspectors and law enforcement officers, carried out a mission in which they removed 1,089 Wi-Fi routers, 146 short-range nano-stations, 157 access points, 202 multi-port switches, 19 long-range microwaves, 21 external antennas, and 33 power-supplies to telecom networks.
These Unlicensed networks have had sorely negative impacts on the quality of telecom services provided to users in Haram, Faisal, Kirdasa, and the surrounding areas within a diameter of 12 km, affecting voice and data transfer services.
Service levels have been consequently boosted in these areas, following the removal of the Unlicensed networks, according to the measurements conducted by the agency upon removal.
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In fact, this step comes in line with the NTRA’s role to govern and regulate the telecom market as well as improve the quality of service provided to users.
The number of complaints raised by users living in Haram, Faisal, and Kirdasa had been increasingly escalated to NTRA, indicating service quality issues in such areas.
NTRA’s technical team has conducted field inspections to make it clear that some users had been receiving telecom services from illegal networks not affiliated with any of the licensed operators in Egypt’s market whatsoever, and therefore, telecom services in such residential areas were entirely affected.
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To this end, the agency aims to ensure that all rules and regulating procedures are abided by to guarantee the rights of telecom users.
The NTRA is also calling upon users of telecom services to make sure they are using the services provided by licensed telecom operators since unlicensed networks do not actually abide by the quality standards acknowledged by the agency.
Furthermore, users of such networks do not have the right to receive proper customer service or report any quality issue, with the NTRA adding that unlicensed networks are also illegal by virtue of law and have a harmful impact on service quality for wide distances in the areas where they are deployed.