Growth in Egypt’s telecommunications industry may be limited next year and beyond as mobile phone revenue per user declines and the number of new subscribers retreats, HC Brokerage said in a report.
“The penetration rate in Egypt is higher than it seems as real penetration is expected to reach 95 percent by the end of 2010,” Karim Khadr and Sarah Shabayek, HC Equity analysts, said in a note, referring to the proportion of people that subscribe to a mobile network.
Telecom Egypt, the country’s monopoly fixed line operator which is a 45 percent shareholder in the second biggest mobile network, Vodafone Egypt, faces better growth prospects because of the diversity of its revenue stream and strong balance sheet, HC said.
Egyptian Co. for Mobile Services, Egypt’s biggest mobile network operator, will be pressured by growing competition and the growing expenses of upgrading its network, according to the report.
