Ramses Switchboard fire causes disruption in telecommunication services

CAIRO - 7 July 2025: Telecom Egypt said electricity was cut off from the entire building of Ramses Central (switchboard) during the firefighting operation to ensure the safety of workers and prevent the blaze from spreading on Monday.

Ramses Central, one of the switchboard premises of Telecom Egypt, caught on a major fire earlier, causing a temporary disruption to some telecommunications and internet services. The cause of fire has not been determined yet.

The company said all affected services will be identified to compensate those affected. Technical teams will begin their work to ensure full service return as soon as possible.

The fire was put out in the afternoon, but it started again in the evening and firefighter were deployed again at the building in downtown Cairo.

Minister of Local Development Manal Awad and Cairo Governor Ibrahim Saber inspected the area to follow up on the efforts to fight the fire, investigate the cause of fire, and arrive at the scale of damage and damages. No loss of life has been reported.

The National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) said ADSL internet of Telecom Egypt customers has been transferred to the traffic exchange center at Rawda switchboard building.

Fixed internet and mobile services (voice/data) were partially affected across the three mobile companies in Egypt due to the disruption of some connection circuits caused by the fire.

Coordination is underway between Telecom Egypt's technical teams and the mobile companies to restore the connection circuits affected by the Ramses switchboard fire and replace them in other directions on the remaining Telecom Egypt switchboards, according to NTRA.