The four major operators in the Egyptian telecommunications market meet for the first time in Cairo ICT 2007

Telecom Egypt, the pioneering telecommunications company in the Middle East and Africa, is taking part in the exhibition as its official sponsor. The Egyptian Company for Mobile Services 'MobiNil', the first Mobile Network Operator and one of Orascom Telecom's companies is also participating, as well as 'Vodafone', the largest Mobile Network Operator in the world. Making its debut in the Egyptian market through its participation in Cairo ICT is 'Etisalat Misr', the company that acquired the third mobile operator license in Egypt.

The 11th round of Cairo ICT 'The International Telecommunications and Information Technology Trade Fair and Forum For the Arab World and North Africa' will be held from 4th-7th February 2007 under the auspices of H.E. Dr. Tarek Kamel, Minister of CIT and the support of the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA), under the slogan 'The Shape of Things to Come'.

Mr. Ossama Kamal, Managing Director of Tradefairs International, the organizer of Cairo ICT 2007, said: 'This new round of the Cairo ICT is witnessing, for the first time, the meeting of all communications services operators in Egypt, whether fixed, mobile or data. This takes place while the CIT sector is enjoying unprecedented development rates, reaching around 18 million subscribers to mobile services at present.' (according to statements made by the Ministry of CIT http://www.mcit.gov.eg/indicators.aspx).

Accordingly, the growth rate increased to reach 125% in the last two years while only 23.7% of the Egyptian population subscribed to mobile services and19.1% for fixed communications services. As for Internet users, the numbers reached 8 million, which indicates that the opportunities for work and investment for companies in the field of communications and Information technology in all its forms are the most prominent in the region.'

The telecommunications sector is occupying a major place in Cairo ICT 2007, as Cairo ICT is considered the biggest event that most telecommunications companies make certain to partake in every year. This year, a number of prominent multinationals are participating such as Cisco, Juniper, Ericsson, Siemens Motorola, Nokia, Orange Business Services, Huawei Technology and ZTE. Many regional and international companies confirmed their participation in the event. The area allocated for the telecommunications sector is located in Hall 4, while the Information technology and electronics in Halls 1, 2 and 3.

Kamal stated: 'The current round of Cairo ICT is keen on presenting the most up-to-date technologies that will prevail in the near future, hence the slogan of Cairo ICT. Our intention is to project a futuristic vision what life will be and how it will mainly depend on communications technology and IT solutions. Media in all its forms has become truly effective in our lives and that is what Cairo ICT 2007 will try to reveal through a number of views to be discussed for the first time in The Arab region and Africa. This will be done through a multitude of experts and specialists from the region as well as Europe and the US.'