Minister of Communications Atef Helmy said he was not completely satisfied with the Internet services. “We must improve the service,” he told CBC.
He said that when he assumed office it was only two years after the revolution. “Many infrastructures were affected by the political and security instability we had,” he said.
He explained that in late 2010 there were 59 million mobile phone subscribers and that last May they became 101 million, while Internet users increased from 19 million to 44 million, a 270 percent increase.
“Internet users in 2010 were using tools that cannot be compared to what what we have today,” he said. “But the high-speed Internet stands at 14 percent, which does not meet our ambitions.”
“In December, the Cabinet agreed to our proposal to make the high-speed Internet a national project,” he said, adding that the project is now being implemented in five areas. “We need 120 billion pounds to develop telecommunications until 2020.”
“Germany spent 20 billion euros to modernize its infrastructure in the past four years,” he said.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
