The company’s director of international customers and networks, Mohamed Saro, claimed there wasn’t any stable alternative options for international traffic between Asia and Europe, and that Egypt is a historically reliable route.
“From a latency perspective it’s a proven route and has been tested many times before. We understand that alternatives must be there, but these will be an operational challenge and at the moment we don’t see any stable alternative route,” he warned.
Furthermore, he said a fresh and transparent mindset was developing under the country’s new regime, stating that past delays in issuing subsea cable permits were down to the previous regime. “We are creating a transit-friendly environment, an Egypt 2.0,” he exclusively told Capacity.
Saro’s comments come in light of an ongoing industry effort to develop alternative routes through the Middle East to reduce reliance on Egypt’s ‘fibre-optic corridor’.
Earlier in October, Telecom Egypt appointed Omar El Sheikh as non-executive chairman, following the decision of Akil Beshir to retire after serving as chairman for 12 years. El Sheikh is the former director of public relations at Vodafone Egypt and holds substantial experience in the sector.
