Cairo – Mubasher: Orange Egypt is currently dealing with a “challenging task” after it acquired the fourth-generation (4G) license in Egypt, according to Pharos Research.
“The news comes as a surprise, since the telecom operator previously stated its rejection to the license terms,” the research firm said, adding that “the spectrum acquired is still not sufficient to launch the 4G services according to global industry standards”.
The company incurred losses of EGP 33.3 million In the first half of 2016 due the low EBIT margin of 10%, compared to an average EBIT margin of 17% for telecom operators in the Middle East and Africa.
The company also carries a debt burden of EGP 7.1 billion, which implies management might have accepted the current terms fearing customer migration to other operators.
The acquisition of the fixed-line license by Orange Egypt could significantly impact Telecom Egypt’s (ETEL) operations, as Orange Egypt can now launch attractive dual-play bundles (Voice+Data) packages.
