Mobinil (The Egyptian Company for Mobile Services) is one of Egypt's three mobile phone operators. Founded in 1998. The company is majority-owned and fully consolidated by France Télécom (Orange), which owns 94% of the shares,^[1] 5% of the shares owned by Orascom Telecom which was founded by the Egyptian billionaire, Naguib Sawiris, and 1% free float. An old history of dispute between France Telecom and Mobinil started to manifest itself when the former raised the dispute to the International Court of Arbitration in 2007. Mobinil was the first telecom company to receive ISO 14001 certificate in Egypt and the Middle East. It has also obtained official renewal of the ISO 14001 for the fifth consecutive year and also obtained the certification of OHSAS 18001.^[2]

Market share[link]

As of April 2010, Mobinil has had more than 30 million^[2] subscribers. In 2011, Naguib Sawiris tweeted a cartoon image that was considered offensive by some Muslim groups which led to calling for a major boycott to Mobinil and other Sawiris-owned ventures. It was rumored that Mobinil lost a huge market share for its competitors, Vodafone and Etisalat, as a result of the aggressive campaign against it.

Network and coverage[link]

Mobinil has:^[2]

• 4,299 sites
• 36 switches
• 4503 mobile BTSs with:
  • 1. Built-in echo cancellers on all switches
  • 2. EFR voice clarity enhancement
  • 3. State-of-the-art antennas

Mobinil was the first GSM in Egypt to extend its network services to:^[2]

• Underground stations, having installed 17 Micro BTSs covering stations in Cairo.
• Al Azhar Tunnel
• Coverage extends to more than 99% of the Egyptian population.
• Mobinil has international roaming agreements with 348 operators in 135 countries
• Mobinil was the first to establish roaming agreements with the US and Canada, as well as non-GSM Operators in South America extending its services to countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Peru, and The Philippines, to name a few.
• Mobinil offers roaming with satellite operators such as Al-Thuraya.

Recent changes[link]

On October 17, 2007, Tarek Kamel (Minister of Communication and Information Technology & Chairman of NTRA) as well as Dr. Amr Badawy (NTRA’s Executive President) signed the 3G license agreement, giving Mobinil the green light to start 3G services. Representing Mobinil, the agreement was signed by its chairman at the time, Naguib Sawiris, and Eskandar (Alex) Shalaby (Mobinil's President & CEO). ^[3]

As of September 1, 2008, Alex Shalaby has been appointed chairman and Hassan Kabbani CEO of Mobinil.

On September 1, 2008, Mobinil has officially announced the start of its 3G operations and the launch of the Largest and Newest mobile network in Egypt, after teaming up with the global telecommunication manufacturers Nokia Siemens Networks and Huawei for the 3G roll out

On September 21, 2011, Yves Gauthier has been appointed the new chief executive officer (CEO) of Mobinil, a change that will be effective starting November 15. This follows the resignation of Hassan Kabbani.

On February 13, 2012, France Telecom announced its intent to buy Sawiris' biggest share in Mobinil for about $2 billion which could be the end of the long-standing dispute between the company's major shareholders.

On May 27, 2012, France Telecom acquired 94 percent of Egyptian mobile phone company Mobinil France Telecom bought most of the Mobinil shares it did not already own from its local venture partner, Sawiris's Orascom Telecom Media and Technology (OTMT). France Telecom on Sunday, May 27th, executed its purchase of 93.9 million shares of the 100 million outstanding at a pre-agreed price of 202.5 pounds each, for a total transaction value of 19 billion Egyptian pounds ($3.15 billion). Sawiris agreed to keep a 5 percent stake in Mobinil.^[4]

See also[link]

• Vodafone Egypt
• Etisalat Egypt

References[link]

• [1]
• [2]

External links[link]

• Mobinil

	Mobile network operators of Egypt
Mobinil | Vodafone | Etisalat