By ;  Mohamed Elkhorn

Engineer Hossam El-Gamal, the Executive President of the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Egypt (NTRA), met with Mr. Houlin Zhao, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Secretary-General, and they discussed the pivotal role played by Egypt being a significant member of ITU’s business and activities. The meeting also aimed to identify the latest international standards of telecommunications, amid the rapid changes witnessed in the world as well as the amplification of technology’s role within COVID-19 pandemic. The meeting actually took place on the margin of the World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly’s (WTSA), held in Geneva from March 1-9, 2022. 

Engineer Hossam El-Gamal, the Executive President of NTRA, has clarified that the meeting with Mr. Zhao comes in line with the rapid changes witnessed in Egypt’s telecom market, especially the digital transformation strategy adopted by the entire governmental organizations of the state. Therefore, the experience of global telecom markets, particularly the amplified role played by telecom modern technologies amid the current circumstances of climatic change and COVID-19, was to be utilized. Furthermore, Engineer Hossam has asserted that 2022 will be the year for telecom quality in Egypt’s market, as it will witness a quantum leap in the quality of services provided for users, after NTRA had already assigned new frequencies for operators via TDD technology and had implemented a new strategy to speed up the process of cell-site deployment.   

At his side, Mr. Houlin Zhao, ITU Secretary-General, has praised the Egyptian efforts with respect to telecom market governance and regulation. He has also backed the regulatory frameworks, which have been recently set by NTRA pertaining to data centers and Internet of Things (IoT). Moreover, he praised the efforts as well as initiatives made by NTRA to establish these frameworks, which pushed Egypt up by 54 positions within just one year in ITU ICT Regulatory Tracker. Mr. Zhao has also commended the national projects adopted by the Egyptian state; namely, “Hayah Karima” which plays a vital role to enhance and uphold telecom networks all over Egypt’s countryside. 

Egypt, represented by NTRA’s delegation under the presidency of Engineer Hossam El-Gamal, is currently taking part in WTSA, held in Geneva from March 1-9, 2022. Joining in 1856, Egypt is actually considered among the oldest members of ITU. It has also been an ITU board member since 1973 and has ever since assumed a leading role to coordinate between the Arab and African states, bringing closer their points of view to achieve maximum benefits for both regions and for the developing countries in particular.  

It is worth noting that WTSA is held every 4 years with the participation of 140 countries, under the umbrella of ITU. WTSA mainly defines the modern telecom technologies, and discusses the technical standards including the ideal operation of telecom services and equipment.