(MENAFN- Daily News Egypt) Telecom Egypt's history extends for more than 150 years, and being the first entity to provide communications solutions in the local market, it served as a liaison between Egyptian society and technological development.
1854 was the beginning of the telecommunications sector activity in Egypt and the establishment of the first telegraph line linking Cairo and Alexandria. It was managed by the Eastern Telegraph Company, before the Egyptian government purchased it. The first land line between Cairo and Alexandria was in 1881, making it the second major historical stop in the telecommunications market. The lines expanded in 1883 to reach Ismailia, Port Said, Suez, Tanta, Zagazig, and Mansoura.
7-5 telecom egyptIn 1918, the Egyptian government took over the Eastern Company, which preceded the establishment of TE for EGP 755,000, and its ownership was transferred to the Egyptian State Railway, Telegraph and Telephone (ESRT&T) authority.
Communications services began to spread, supported by a foreign company's establishment of wired and wireless reception stations in Maadi and Abu Za'abal, until the number of landline users by the year 1952 amounted to more than 62,000 clients. 1972 saw the operating of the first international cable between Egypt and Italy.
The first wireless car service was activated in 1975 with the capacity of 160 subscribers. At the same year, the first microwave network (communication system via satellite through certain frequencies) operated between Cairo, Alexandra, and Salloum to link the governorates.
The first fibre optic cable linking the centrals of Cairo started operating in 1985, and the following year witnessed the participation of a submarine cable linking Asia, Africa and Europe, the Simoy 1. Within six years was the start of first internet service in Egypt.
In 1996 the first GSM mobile service was offered in the Egyptian market through the National Telecommunication Organization (ARENTO) which changed its name in 1998 to Telecom Egypt and turned into a joint stock company.
In 2005, 20% of the company's shares were offered in the Egyptian Stock Exchange by the Egyptian government, represented in the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, to investors. In 2008, TE purchased approximately 370,000 of Vodafone Egypt's shares, which represent 44.9% of the total shares of the company.
In 2009, TE started extending the marine corps in collaboration with India-Middle East-Western Europe Company. After that, TE continued in the activity of submarine cables until it launched the TE North Cable in collaboration with Alcatel-Lucent.
The last historical landmark of TE is the campaign launched by the company in 2013 to change its trademark to fit with the transition to an integrated operator by getting the virtual mobile licence, which has not taken place yet.
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