# Speedtest® Market Report

### Egypt

#### Published April 13, 2017

Egyptian infrastructure, which suffered from a lack of investment following the January 25 revolution in 2011, is only recently improving. Internet speeds are no exception. For Q3-Q4 2016, Egypt ranks 146th out of 150 countries for fixed broadband download speeds and 95th for mobile. In the region of North Africa, Egypt’s fixed broadband was faster than only Libya, and the country’s mobile internet was only faster than Algeria and Sudan.

Egypt’s average Q3-Q4 2016 fixed broadband download speed was 4.02 Mbps, significantly slower than the country’s average mobile download speed of 7.75 Mbps. While those speeds are slow, they represent increases of 34% and 59%, respectively, over the same period last year.

The government has a large stake in the telecom industry with Telecom Egypt (d.b.a. TE Data) holding a monopoly on fixed line internet infrastructure, though other companies lease capacity. TE Data also secured a license last year to enter into the already saturated mobile market. Now that political and economic stability are improving in Egypt, an increase in foreign investment presents new opportunities for growth. Infrastructure improvements are also coming with mobile providers finally securing 4G licenses at the end of last year.

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## Market Analysis

Egypt has a lot of potential to expand. The economy is growing and the population is large and comparatively young. The GNI per capita in Egypt is US $3,340. The population consists of approximately 94.7 million people with an average household size of 4.2 people. According to Open Data For Africa, 45.4% of the households are urban, while 54.6% are rural. The median age of 23.8 years means that over fifty percent of the population is under 24 years old.

Egypt’s major industries include agriculture, textiles, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, metals, construction, manufacturing and tourism. Egypt has struggled with poor living conditions and lack of economic opportunity. This contributed to the 2011 uprising and the ousting of Hosni Mubarak. The instability following this period has adversely affected economic growth. Telecom growth slowed and consumers have protested high prices.

Egypt’s independent regulatory authority is the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA). Egypt’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) also plays a role in developing the country’s ICT infrastructure. MCIT launched the eMisr National Broadband Plan in 2012 through the NTRA with three main focus areas: to provide broadband to a large geographical area, to increase the use of services and raise subscriber numbers, and to reduce the digital divide by providing those in disadvantaged areas with high-speed internet. The initiative, which was updated in 2014, also addresses pricing and seeks to make high speed internet more affordable. GSMA gives Egypt a score of 67.8 out of 100 for affordability. While this is much lower than many European countries, it is the highest among North African countries.

MCIT is working with other government bodies on a Cairo Technology Park in Maadi to foster growth through ICT investments. In Nov 2016, the country saw 2 newly established communication companies, 63 information technology companies and 20 IT-enabled services companies. In February 2017, the MCIT minister, Yasser ElKady, met with Yangtze Optical Fiber and Cable to discuss a high tech factory plant that is expected to facilitate infrastructure development. Plans are also underway to develop a training program for optical fiber.

## State of the Industry

Egypt has one of the largest fixed line markets and mobile internet markets in North Africa. According to MCIT, there were 29.84 million internet users in Egypt in 2016, a penetration rate of 37.8%. That number breaks down into 28.65 million mobile internet subscriptions and 4.6 million ADSL subscriptions (the primary fixed broadband technology in Egypt), with some presumable overlap between mobile and fixed broadband users. The greater Cairo area is responsible for almost half of these ADSL subscriptions. Fiber to the home (FTTH) arrived in Cairo in 2009 but has not been widely deployed.

The mobile market reached saturation in Egypt around 2011. At the end of last year, 29.42% of the total 97.4 million mobile subscriptions in Egypt included internet access. Mobile penetration was 109.45% which reflects a trend of users having more than one subscription. Egypt was one of the first countries to launch 3G in the region, and according to GSMA, 99% of Egypt’s population has access to 3G coverage. LTE services were delayed until last year when TE Data, Orange (previously Mobinil), Vodafone and Etisalat all received 4G licenses. Currently in trial for all three major operators, 4G is expected to be around 5-7 times faster than existing networks. The introduction to 4G and virtual fixed line services is expected to boost performance, lower consumer costs and create jobs. In January 2017, NTRA called for an end to 4G trials from all three major providers as they were negatively impacting customers’ 3G experience. Orange has indicated that they are ready to move 4G service to the LTE spectrum as soon as it is ready.

The focus in 2017 will be on converged voice, data and entertainment services. The country can expect to see an increase in mobile payments which should increase demand for reliable, fast mobile internet. In 2016, the Central Bank of Egypt approved new regulations for mobile payments with the ultimate goal of a cashless society.

For both mobile and fixed broadband, the country has a lot of room to improve rural coverage, network infrastructure and speed.

### Egypt Fixed Broadband Speeds

### Report Stats

#### TEST COUNT:

1,328,084

#### 1-YEAR CHANGE (DOWNLOAD):

34 %

#### 1-YEAR CHANGE (UPLOAD):

60 %

Fixed broadband in Egypt is painfully slow. According to Speedtest data, Egypt’s Q3-Q4 2016 average download speed of 4.02 Mbps ranks the country almost last in North Africa after Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Sudan. But the download speed has increased 34% from 3.00 Mbps during the same period last year. The average upload speed of 1.71 Mbps represents a 60% improvement from the 1.07 Mbps in Q3-Q4 2015.

Cairo has the fastest fixed broadband connections among Egypt’s largest cities with a 6.54 Mbps average download speed. Following Cairo in speeds are Giza, Port Said, Suez and Alexandria, respectively. The city with the lowest speed was Al Mahalla El Kubra at only 2.74 Mbps for all devices.

City | Download (Mbps) | Upload (Mbps)
--- | --- | ---
Cairo | 6.54 | 4.72
Giza | 4.96 | 3.11
Port Said | 4.30 | 0.94
Suez | 3.85 | 0.82
Alexandria | 3.41 | 0.98
Al Mansurah | 3.03 | 0.85
Tanta | 2.90 | 1.17
Shubra al Khaymah | 2.87 | 0.66
Al Mahalla El Kubra | 2.74 | 0.91

Almost all of Egypt’s 27 governorates show average download speeds between 2.0 Mbps and 4.5 Mbps on fixed broadband. The exceptions are Al Wadi Al Jadid, Matruh and Al Qahirah. Broadband is at its slowest in Al Wadi Al Jadid, a sparsely populated and rural governorate in southwestern Egypt, where the average download speed was only 0.80 Mbps. Similarly, the seaport of Matruh had a download speed of 1.85 Mbps. Meanwhile, Al Qahirah, the governorate that includes Cairo, had the fastest download speed of any governorate at 4.54 Mpbs.

### Competitive Overview

Egypt’s major fixed broadband providers are TE Data, which has a monopoly on fixed line infrastructure, Vodafone, Orange and Etisalat. The latter three all lease capacity from TE Data. The government has an 80% share in TE Data. In August 2016, TE Data received the country’s first unified services license, allowing it to offer LTE, fixed-line, mobile voice and data services. Other providers initially rejected the terms, although all three have since received licenses.

### Egypt Fastest ISPs

### Download

#### FASTEST: TE Data

TE Data was the fastest provider for Q3-Q4 2016 downloads in Egypt. TE Data provides services to homes and businesses and in 2016, the internet provider entered into mobile. Part of this is likely due to the decline in telephone landlines, one of the company’s core offerings, in addition to ADSL.

### Upload

#### FASTEST: Vodafone

Vodafone was the fastest provider for fixed broadband uploads in Egypt in Q3-Q4 2016. Egypt has been the second largest country for Vodafone’s growth in in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.

In Q3-Q4 2016 the fastest provider for fixed broadband was TE Data with a 90th percentile download speed of 9.14 Mbps. That represents a 38% improvement over TE Data’s speed from Q3-Q4 2015 which was enough of a gain to surpass last year’s fastest provider Vodafone, which was less than 1 Mbps slower than TE Data in Q3-Q4 2016.

Upload speed was led by Vodafone at 3.40 Mbps, a 68% improvement over the same period last year. Vodafone was 51% faster than Orange, which came in second place with 2.25 Mbps.

#### HOW SPEEDTEST MEASURES FIXED BROADBAND

ISPs offering fixed broadband services are ranked based on top speed performance, which is determined using the 90th percentile of the download and upload speeds, or Top 10%, of each ISP’s Speedtest results. While many ISPs offer various service tiers, our aim is to determine who is fastest by showing the performance achieved by each residential ISP’s top tier. These speeds represent customers who subscribe to faster service tiers and provide an accurate view of the top-end performance of a given ISP. It is important to note that customers subscribing to higher tiers will generally pay more for their service than the average subscriber. For purposes of this report, only Top Providers in a given location were included in the analysis. Each ISP that accounts for at least 3% of the total sample size in the geographic area are included as a Top Provider. When analyzing Egypt overall, we use the average speed, as it represents the experience of a typical consumer in Egypt. When comparing ISPs individually, we use top speed performance, as it represents the performance a consumer could reasonably expect to receive if they subscribe to one of the ISP’s higher tiers of service.

### Egypt Mobile Speeds

### Report Stats

#### TEST COUNT:

377,330

#### 1-YEAR CHANGE (DOWNLOAD):

59 %

#### 1-YEAR CHANGE (UPLOAD):

170 %

Egypt’s mobile internet speeds are also slow, but not as slow as fixed broadband. In North Africa, Egypt follows Tunisia and Morocco and leads Algeria, Sudan and Libya. The average mobile download speed for all devices in Q3-Q4 2016 was 7.75 Mbps. This is a 59% increase in speed year-over-year from 4.87 Mbps. The average upload speed for Q3-Q4 2016 was 3.32 Mbps for a 170% increase from 1.23 Mbps during the same period the year before.

Giza has the fastest average mobile download speed of all major cities with Cairo and Suez following close behind. Most major cities saw download speeds between 5.5 Mbps and 7.5 Mbps, although the slowest city, Port Said, had a download speed of 4.86 Mbps.

City | Download (Mbps) | Upload (Mbps)
--- | --- | ---
Giza | 7.70 | 3.58
Cairo | 7.62 | 3.20
Suez | 7.57 | 2.43
Alexandria | 6.99 | 2.28
Al Mansurah | 6.66 | 2.77
Shubra al Khaymah | 6.33 | 2.16
Tanta | 5.88 | 2.30
Al Mahalla El Kubra | 5.67 | 2.03
Port Said | 4.86 | 2.04

Regionally, Al Wadi Al Jadid is again one of the slowest governorates. Average downloads there were 2.07 Mbps. Only one governorate ranks slower, Shamal Sina’, which is the northeasternmost part of the country on the border with Israel. The fastest mobile averages in the country are all in governorates in the center or east of the country: Al Jizah (8.63 Mbps), Al Bahr al Ahmar (8.19 Mbps), Janub Sina’ (7.97 Mbps) and Al Qahirah (Cairo) (7.95 Mbps).

### Competitive Overview

Major mobile providers include Vodafone, Orange and Etisalat. Vodafone Egypt has the largest subscriber base at 41.6%. Orange follows with shares of 35.1%. Etisalat, the newest telecom, has a subscriber share of 23.3%. Its parent company Etisalat UAE holds a 66% stake, with 20% owned by the Egypt National Post Authority and 14% by private investors. TE Data has a 44.95% holding in Vodafone Egypt.

The introduction of TE Data into the mobile market, with the procurement of a 4G license, is expected to increase competition for services and prices. Because the company currently has a large stake in now competitor, Vodafone, TE Data is expected to sell its stake either by IPO, transfer or selling to a private buyer.

### Egypt Fastest Mobile

### Download

#### FASTEST: Etisalat

The top provider for mobile downloads in Egypt for Q3-Q4 2016 was Etisalat with a download speed of 8.74 Mbps. Etisalat is the youngest company in Egypt with the smallest market share, although it has grown considerably since its founding in 2007.

### Upload

#### FASTEST: Etisalat, Orange, Vodafone

The top provider for mobile uploads in Q3-Q4 2016 was largely a tie between Etisalat, Vodafone and Orange. Etisalat had the fastest upload speed of 3.65 Mbps, but Vodafone was behind by only .02 Mbps at 3.63 Mbps. Orange followed by the largest gap at 3.53 Mbps. Nonetheless, the distinction for users would be unnoticeable. All three providers secured 4G licenses and are expected to offer 4G sometime in 2017.

The fastest mobile provider in Egypt for Q3-Q4 2016 was Etisalat with an average download speed on modern devices of 8.74 Mbps. That’s an 83% increase over the same period the year prior and big news because Etisalat was previously far behind Orange and Vodafone for both download and upload speeds

Fastest provider for uploads is a virtual tie between Etisalat at 3.65 Mbps and Vodafone at 3.63 Mbps with Orange very close behind. In the same period last year, Etisalat was a distant third and the company’s upload speed has increased 400% since then. This increase occurred mostly since October, when Etisalat acquired LTE spectrum and may be related to ongoing 4G trials. Vodafone’s upload speed increased 140% and Orange’s increased 169% in the same period.

#### HOW SPEEDTEST MEASURES MOBILE CARRIERS

The top mobile carriers in Egypt are ranked using the average download speed of “Modern Devices” - those devices that are capable of connecting to the fastest, broadly-available wireless networks. In Egypt, this means devices capable of 4G LTE. This ensures we provide an accurate view of the typical performance a user can achieve using a modern smartphone or tablet on a given mobile network. Top carriers are those that each account for at least 3% of the sample size in the geographic area. When analyzing the country as a whole, we use the mean value of all cellular results to account for the typical user. However, when analyzing individual carriers, we look at “Modern Devices” to account for top speeds available in Egypt.

## Market Summary

Given Egypt’s slow internet speed on both fixed broadband and mobile, it’s a good thing that the market is newly focusing on improving infrastructure. The government is attempting to redirect investment into quality of service, including: broadband access, fiber optics, technology parks and technical skills training. The largest issues facing telecoms are investment in infrastructure, pricing, speeds and coverage. The launch of 4G and virtual fixed line services is expected to mitigate some of these issues. It will be interesting to see to what degree.

Renewed foreign investment and the entrance of TE Data into mobile make Egypt a market to watch in the coming years. If the government’s plans for the future do pan out, then the outlook for growth is positive.

Written with contributions from Sera Tajima.

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