Vodafone Egypt fined LE 10M for service cut before Eid al-fitr

CAIRO – 11 June 2019: Egypt's National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) said on Monday it had fined LE 10 million ($597.4 thousand) to Vodafone Egypt for a few hours of interruptions in telecommunications services on June 3.

NTRA said in a statement that this is the first time that a fine was imposed on a company for the service cut.

"From now on, the NTRA will not hesitate to take all necessary measures to ensure the quality and quality of telecommunications services provided to citizens," the statement said.

Vodafone Egypt sent text messages to users informing them that it will compensate them for interruption of service, through free minutes or the Internet.

The company attributed the disruption of the communication service and the Internet to technical problems.

Head of Legal and Foreign Affairs at Vodafone Egypt Ayman Essam said that the company received a letter from NTRA regarding the signing of a fine of LE 10 million due to the interruption of telecommunications services before the Eid al-Fitr holiday.

Essam added that the company will study the legal basis on which NTRA was based on the signing of the fine and the extent of its legality, pointing out that the company will determine the next steps in light of that study.

Earlier, Vodafone had demanded new frequencies to improve the quality of service, and the TRA is planning to provide frequencies for all mobile operators, according to earlier statements by the head of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, Mustafa Abdel Wahid.

At the end of 2017, mobile operators signed a list of quality-of-service sanctions that included financial sanctions.

Vodafone operates within the telecommunication services sector focusing on wireless telecommunication services. It has 2 subsidiaries operating across Egypt, working on internet software & services.