Egypt's government plans to replace 95 percent of its copper telecom network with fibre optics by 2020, according to news agency Ecofin, citing the deputy spokesperson of Egypt’s communication and IT committee, Ahmed Zidane. At present, 60 percent of the network has been replaced with fibre. The government aims to increase broadband internet penetration to 53.5 percent in 2019 from 43.3 percent in 2015.
To cover the whole country with optical fibre and at a minimal cost, Egypt will leverage the expertise of the optical fibre cable manufacturing plant inaugurated in March through a USD 30 million investment. Located in the industrial town of Badr, this facility is the result of a partnership between the Egyptian HitekNofal Solutions and the Chinese Hengtong Group.
