availability, 3) Illegal line sharing, and 4) Right-of-way and civil work. Demand
constraints similarly limit the penetration of broadband services. They include: 1)
Service affordability and Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) penetration, 2)
Illiteracy, 3) E-Literacy, and 4) Local content availability.
According to the eMisr National Broadband Plan, the projected short-term
subscriber numbers for broadband services will surpass 12.5 million subscribers.
Annual revenues from broadband services in Egypt are projected to amount to EGP
17.2 billion (USD 2.88 billion) in 2015. The estimated investment required over the 4
year forecast period - to achieve the set availability, penetration, and social targets
- are projected to be in the range of EGP 14.4 billion - 23.6 billion (USD 2.40 billion 3.95 billion).
It is worth mentioning though that these estimated figures represent the total
investment needed by the sector, and will depend on the infrastructure
deployment/leasing options. In addition to private sector investment, government
stimulation may be needed to encourage investment in areas where deploying
broadband services may not be economically viable. To encourage investment in
such areas, it is assumed that government stimulation of up to 20% of the total
needed investment would be required. On the other hand, and in order to stimulate
the demand needed for a successful broadband diffusion, an investment in the
range of EGP 2.1 billion (USD 350 million) will be needed, as per the Ministry of
Communications and Information Technology, over four years.
This overall investment needed to develop the broadband market, is expected to
have a positive impact on the Egyptian economy in terms of productivity (GDP) and
job creation. It is estimated that by achieving short term targets alone, broadband
will create 6,650 to 17,500 direct jobs on average per year, and will result in an
incremental cumulative contribution to GDP of EGP 24.9 billion (USD 4.17 billion).
There is also a spillover effect on the employment in other sectors, but this depends
on the political harmonization among other sectors in the country.
The eMisr National Broadband Plan is a two staged plan to address the
development of the broadband market in Egypt. Its first phase, “A Framework for
Broadband Development”, proposes a list of strategic options and
recommendations to achieve set targets by addressing supply and demand
constraints. As a second phase, a “Broadband Action Plan”, is to follow in Q2 2012
and will be the execution arm of eMisr. It will detail, based on eMisr, a list of action
items with timelines and responsibilities needed for the execution of the plan. This is
expected to be done, through different task forces and in collaboration with all
stakeholders of the Egyptian broadband industry. The plan is envisaged to create a
robust national broadband ecosystem to meet Egypt‟s needs for 21st century.
eMisr National Broadband Plan
Executive Summary
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