TE, Etisalat Egypt ink $48m settlement agreement

Cairo – Mubasher: Telecom Egypt (TE) on Tuesday announced that it has reached a final settlement agreement with Etisalat Egypt regarding a dispute over international calls services.

As per the agreement, TE will pay $48 million to Etisalat Egypt to alleviate an estimated potential risk of more than $100 million, TE highlighted in a filing to the Egyptian Exchange (EGX).

TE and all mobile operators in Egypt have signed a settlement agreement on Monday to mark an end to all disputes, TE indicated.

TE had already formed provisions to cover the total amount of profits and losses in the fourth quarter of 2017, the company pointed out.

“We are pleased to reach a final settlement with Etisalat Misr as we embark on a new era, where we are mitigating uncertainty and risk, while cleaning our balance sheet to ensure smooth financial performance in the future,” commented CEO and managing director of TE Ahmed El Beheiry.

“The new phase also emphasizes on the importance of partnership as the key to secure ongoing cooperation with all mobile operators,” he continued.

Given that Orange Egypt for Telecommunications signed an EGP 74 million settlement agreement with TE, on which Orange Egypt paid EGP 72 million, in addition to EGP 2 million, to settle its international arbitration and to resolve all of the local and international connection services and infrastructure with TE.

In January 2017, Cairo Economic Court compelled Orange to pay EGP 49 million for TE as a compensation for passing international tariffs.