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150 Years of Telecommunications |
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1854 witnessed the birth of Egypt's telecommunications industry. The first telegraph line connecting Cairo and Alexandria was inaugurated early in 1854, forming the company that was later to become Telecom Egypt. |
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In 1918, the Egyptian Government nationalized the Eastern Telephone Company for 755,000 L.E. and created the Telephone & Telegraph Authority, a forerunner of Telecom Egypt. |
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In 1978, with a capacity of 120 channels, the first earth station linking Egypt by satellite to the rest of the world was opened in Maadi. |
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Telecom Egypt launched its first mobile services in November 1996. |
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Telecom Egypt was transformed into a joint stock company in 1998, the Egyptian Government maintaining 100% ownership of the 171,121,490 shares in issue. |
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In December 2003, Telecom Egypt acquired an 8.6% ownership stake in Vodafone Egypt. |
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Telecom Egypt obtained an additional ownership stake of 16.9% in Vodafone Egypt in January 2005, bringing total ownership to 25.5%. |
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In February 2005, Telecom Egypt issued the largest corporate bond in Egypt to date, raising EGP 2 billion. |
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On November 14th 2005, the Egyptian Government announced the launch of an initial public offering of its Telecom Egypt shares and GDRs to retail investors in Egypt and institutional investors internationally. The Offer represented 20% of Telecom Egypt's outstanding share capital and raised over $US 890 million. At the time of the Offer, it was the largest international equity offering to come out of the Middle East and North Africa region. |
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On December 14th 2005, Telecom Egypt shares and GDRs commenced trading on the Cairo and Alexandria and London Stock Exchanges. |
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On February 22nd 2006, Telecom Egypt’s joint venture launched commercial services in Algeria under the brand name “Lacom”. |
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On October 2nd 2006, Telecom Egypt announced the outcome of its Public Tender Offer to acquire an additional stake of up to 24.4% of Vodafone Egypt. Telecom Egypt's shareholding stake in Vodafone Egypt reached 48.97% . |
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On November 8th 2006, Vodafone Group and Telecom Egypt announced that they entered into a new strategic partnership to increase cooperation between both parties and to jointly develop a range of products and services for the Egyptian market. Telecom Egypt’s shareholding stake in Vodafone Egypt reached 44.66% after tendering 4.31% of Vodafone Egypt to Vodafone. A couple of months later, Telecom Egypt bought around 320,000 shares of Vodafone Egypt bringing up its shareholding stake from 44.66% to 44.79% in Vodafone Egypt. |
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In November 2006, Telecom Egypt’s internet subsidiary TE Data launched the first IP-TV based entertainment service in Egypt |
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In September 2008, Telecom Egypt bought around 370,000 shares of Vodafone Egypt bringing up its shareholding stake from 44.79% to 44.95% in Vodafone Egypt. |
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In September 2009, Telecom Egypt & Vodafone Egypt signed a 3-year agreement for the provision of wholesale telecommunications services. The deal comprises two distinct elements: Utilizing TE international gateway services to transit all VFE customers incoming and outgoing international traffic plus relying on TE extensive domestic network for all VFE infrastructure leasing needs. |
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