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Egypt's ICT investments rising steadily to US$960 million in 2007
Source: BI-ME and media reports , Author: BI-ME staff
Posted: Sun January 27, 2008 12:00 am
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EGYPT. The cost of broadband for small-time users was slashed by half in 2007 in Egypt. High-speed asymmetrical digital subscriber line (ADSL) connections of 256 kilobytes per second and a maximum download capacity of two gigabytes fell from LE95 to LE45 per month. The move aimed to discourage informal sharing of ADSL services, where between 10 to 12 people, often neighbours, were using the same line and sharing the cost.

For each additional download capacity of one gigabyte, subscribers pay an extra LE10. This year's cut was the second since the introduction of broadband services in Egypt, when it was first marketed at LE150 per month for the 256K capacity; it went down to LE95 in June, 2006. The government hopes that the slash in prices will not merely prevent piracy of ADSL lines, but also help boost the number of Internet users. Previous government efforts have borne fruit in this area with the number of Internet subscribers constantly growing. Ministry of Communication and Information Technology figures show a growth from 4.5 million subscribers in June 2005, to around 7.0 million subscribers in June 2007.

The growth in Internet usage reflects the growth of the entire IT sector. The Business Monitor International (BMI) last quarterly report for 2007 on Egypt's ICT sector reveals that Egyptian ICT investments in general will reach US$960 million by the end of 2007.

The report covers investment in personal computers, broadband Internet subscription, software industry and IT services, including Business Process Outsourcing (BPO). The BMI report predicted that Egypt's IT service sector, which includes BPO, will reach US$278 million by the end of 2007, and will increase to US$379 million in 2011. In the meantime, the volume of total ICT investment is forecast to reach US$1.306 billion by 2011.

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