TE appoints IMEWE

15 Nov 2007 07:03

Telecom Egypt S.A.E15 November 2007 Telecom Egypt Announces Engagement with India Middle East Western Europe (IMEWE) Submarine Cable System through the TE Transit Corridor - Deal Worth US$36 Million Cairo, 15th November 2007: Telecom Egypt (TE) (Ticker: ETEL.CA; TEEG.LN)announced today the signature of a US$36 million contract with IMEWE in relationto its TE Transit Corridor. The geographic position of Egypt allows for an efficient crossing from the RedSea to the Mediterranean Sea for submarine cable systems. TE being Egypt's onlyfixed network operates the TE Transit Corridor, which comprises the terrestrialinfrastructure linking the two Seas, over multiple diverse and redundant routes.Additional terrestrial routes over the Sinai Peninsula add to the uniqueresilience of the TE Transit Corridor and favourable submarine cable buildeconomics by avoiding shallow waters. The TE Transit Corridor was developed overnearly 20 years to be the route of choice for all crossing submarine cablesystems in this geography, which multiplies the benefit of the crossing systemsthrough TE for their ability to achieve interconnection and restoration withother systems. IMEWE is a consortium led submarine cable system comprising of several leadinginternational telecom administrations including VSNL, BHARTI, PTCL, ETISALAT,STC, TE, STE, JTG, CYTA, MAROC TELECOM, FT and OGERO. The 3.84 Tbps capacityIMEWE system is about 10,000 km long 3 fiber pair cable system connecting Indiato Europe as well as various countries on way including Pakistan, UAE, SaudiArabia, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Cyprus, Morocco and Italy. "IMEWE cablesystem has been planned by the group of international telecom companiesresponsible for development of very successful SMW4 cable system commissioned in4Q 2005 to meet the ever growing international telecommunication requirement ofAsia, Middle East and, Europe Regions. Data traffic is exponentially increasingin Asia and Middle East region and IMEWE cable system is planned to meet thisgrowing demand of international bandwidth capacity in concerned regions"according to Mr. K. P. Tiwari who is the Interim Management Committee Chairmanof IMEWE. The anticipated ready for service date is Mid-2009. TE has signed a$36 Million contract by which IMEWE shall use the TE Transit Corridor to crossfrom the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea through Telecom Egypt infrastructure. - Ends- For further information: Tarek M. Tantawy, CFAVice President & Chief Financial OfficerTel: +2 02 25763030 - +2 02 25778992Fax: +2 02 25789246E-mail: investor.relations@telecomegypt.com.eg Alia A. AlloubaInvestor Relations Assistant ManagerTel: +2 02 25788787Fax: +2 02 25789314E-mail: investor.relations@telecomegypt.com.eg Notes to Editors: Within this statement, we may make forward-looking statements regarding futureevents or the future performance of the Company. By their very nature,forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, bothgeneral and specific, and risks exist that the predictions, forecasts,projections and other forward-looking statements will not be achieved. Youshould be aware that a number of important factors could cause actual results todiffer materially from the plans, objectives, expectations, estimates andintentions expressed in such forward-looking statements. When relying onforward-looking statements, you should carefully consider the political,economic, social and legal environment in which Telecom Egypt operates. Suchforward-looking statements speak only as of the time of this release today.Accordingly, Telecom Egypt does not undertake any obligation to update or reviseany of them, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwiseother than as required by applicable laws, the Listing Rules or Prospectus Rulesof the United Kingdom Listing Authority, the Egyptian Capital Markets Authorityor the Cairo and Alexandria Stock Exchange. The documents filed from time totime with these authorities may identify important factors that could causeactual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-lookingstatements. About Telecom Egypt Telecom Egypt (TE), Egypt's incumbent telecommunications operator, started itsoperations in 1854 with the first telegraph line in Egypt. Then it wascorporatized in 1998 to replace the former Arab Republic of Egypt NationalTelecommunication Organization (ARENTO). The Company is the largest provider offixed-line services in the Middle East and Africa with 11.03 million subscribersas at the end of September 2007. TE provides retail telecommunication services including access, local, longdistance and international voice, Internet and data, and other services. Thecompany also provides wholesale services including bandwidth capacity leasing toISPs, and national and international interconnection services. Telecom Egypt'sservices also include the provision of narrowband and broadband internet accessthrough its subsidiary TE Data. TE Data has active operations in Egypt andJordan. TE currently participates in the mobile segment in Egypt by providing mobileinterconnectivity through its current, increased 44.79% holding in VodafoneEgypt, one of the three existing Egyptian mobile operators. TE's shares and GDRs (Ticker: ETEL.CA; TEEG.LN) are traded on the Cairo andAlexandria Stock Exchanges and the London Stock Exchange. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange