Egypt's Cabinet is overseeing an overhaul of telecommunications services in the Sinai Peninsula.
The Ministry of Communications and the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority offered a tender for extending mobile and communication services in Sinai after government reports spotted weak mobile services in the region.
According to the same reports, the present state of affairs allowed Israeli mobile networks to be active within a distance of 25 kilometres from the border with Sinai.
The budget allocated by the Cabinet for the project has been set at LE100 million. The project will be funded by the Comprehensive Development Fund affiliated with the Communications Ministry.
National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority chief Hesham al-Alayly said: "The government [is preparing] for large investments to develop mobile services in five regions in Sinai."
Four companies are competing for the project and the results of the tender will be announced in days, he added.
Authority representatives met with mobile telephone company representatives in Egypt to discuss the issue.
Alayly added that mobile relay stations would be built, along with other steps to improve telecommunications in Sinai, over the next three to six months.
