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Internet on the Nile : Egypt Case Study

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Internet on the Nile : Egypt Case Study INTERNET ON THE NILE: EGYPT CASE STUDY March 2001 This report was drafted by Tim Kelly and Guy Girardet of the ITU and Magda Ismail, formerly of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technol- ogy, (MCIT) Egypt, and now working at the Centre for International Develop- ment, Harvard University, USA. The authors can be contacted, by email at [email protected], [email protected] and [email protected]. The report was edited by Michael Minges and Vanessa Gray. Valuable comments were provided by Amr Abdel Kader of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. This report was based on a research visit to Egypt carried out in May 2000. A list of interviewees is contained in Annex 1 to this report. The authors would like to thank all those who contributed and commented on the report. This report is one of a series of six Internet diffusion case studies undertaken by the ITU during 2000. Other studies cover Bolivia, Hungary, Nepal, Singapore and Uganda. For more information, see the web site at www.itu.int/ti/casestudies. The opinions expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the ITU or its membership or the government of Egypt. © ITU 2001 ii Contents 1. Country background ............................................................ 1 1.1 Overview............................................................................. 1 1.2 Demography ........................................................................ 1 1.3 Economy ............................................................................. 2 1.4 Human development............................................................. 2 1.5 Politics ................................................................................ 3 2. Information and Communication Technology Sector ............ 5 2.1 Telecommunication sector ..................................................... 5 2.2 Information Technology sector ............................................... 9 2.3 The Internet market ........................................................... 11 2.4 Mass media ....................................................................... 17 3. Internet strategy and policy .............................................. 20 3.1 Role of incumbent telecommunications operator in Internet ..... 20 3.2 Pricing structure for Internet services ................................... 20 3.3 Regulatory status of Internet ............................................... 22 3.4 IP Telephony ...................................................................... 23 3.5 Universal access................................................................. 25 3.6 Content............................................................................. 26 4. National absorption of Information and Communication Technology ............................................... 29 4.1 Government ...................................................................... 29 4.2 Health .............................................................................. 30 4.3 Education .......................................................................... 31 4.4 Electronic Commerce .......................................................... 36 5. Summary and Recommendations....................................... 42 5.1 State of the Internet in Egypt .............................................. 42 5.2 Recommendations .............................................................. 43 Annex 1: List of Interviewees ................................................. 48 Annex 2: Framework dimensions ............................................ 49 Annex 3: Acronyms and Abbreviations .................................... 51 Annex 4: Selected Egyptian Web sites..................................... 52 Annex 5: References............................................................... 53 iii Figures 1.1 Map of Egypt ....................................................................... 1 2.1 Egypt's place in the Arab region ............................................. 6 2.2 Egypt's international traffic .................................................... 9 2.3 Internet users and ISP distribution in Egypt ........................... 12 2.4 Internet Gateways .............................................................. 16 3.1 ISP Dial-up tariffs ............................................................... 21 5.1 State of the Internet in Egypt .............................................. 42 Tables 1.1 Human Development Indicators ............................................. 3 2.1 Leading Telecommunication Indicators .................................. 10 2.2 Egyptian Internet Service Providers ...................................... 14 2.3 Egyptian daily newspapers with their own web site ................. 17 2.4 Mass media indicators ......................................................... 18 3.2 Leased line pricing .............................................................. 22 4.1 e-commerce costs in Egypt compared to other countries ......... 39 5.1 State of the Internet in Egypt compared to other economies .... 44 Boxes 2.1 Egypt's Information and Decision Support Centre (IDSC)......... 11 3.1 Premium rate services ........................................................ 21 3.2 Telecom Egypt: If you can't beat them, join them ................... 24 3.3 Cairo's Internet Cafés ......................................................... 26 4.1 Egypt's Government Sector Internet Pioneers ........................ 30 4.2 CiraNet - Pharmaceutical Portal ............................................ 31 4.3 The next India? Egypt's software dream ................................ 34 4.4 Tourism............................................................................. 40 iv 1. Country background 1. Country background 1.1 Overview lion.1 The latest population estimate, for 1999, is around 62 million. In ad- The Arab Republic of Egypt is located in dition there are some 2.8 million Egyp- northeast Africa. It is bordered by Libya tian citizens living abroad. It is on the west, Sudan on the south, the estimated that there are over 15 mil- Red Sea and Israel on the east and the lion people living in Cairo. Other large Mediterranean Sea on the north. With cities include Alexandria, Giza, Shubra an area of 1001450 square kilometers, el Kebma, and El Mahalla el Kubra. The the country is divided percentage of the population living in into two by the north flowing Nile River. The Figure 1.1: Map of Egypt capital and largest city is Cairo. The roots of Egyptian history go back more than 6000 years to the beginning of settled life along the banks of the Nile. Egypt is consid- ered one of the great civilizations of the past and its Pyramids are the oldest and only sur- viving example of the ancient wonders. Both the Sinai Penin- sulathe only land bridge between Africa and Asiaand the Suez Canalthe short- est sea link between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Seaare part of Egypt. As the most populated Source: The World Factbook. Arab state and with its proximity to Israel, Egypt plays an impor- tant role in Middle Eastern geopolitics. urban areas in 1999 was 45 per cent.2 Administratively, Egypt is divided into The estimated population growth is 26 governorates and eight geographi- 1.7 per cent.3 cal regions: Upper Egypt; Central Egypt; North Upper Egypt; Greater Cairo; the The Nile Valley and the Delta, which Canal Zone; the Delta; Alexandria and account for less than four per cent of Matrouh. the total area of the country, are the most densely populated parts of Egypt 1.2 Demography while over 95 per cent of Egypts land area is desert.4 Continued population Egypts last census in November 1996 growth represents an acute problem showed a total population of 59.3 mil- for Egypt. It is the most populated 1 Egypt Internet Case Study country in the region and suffers from ployment at 8 per cent, and the labor high density on fertile lands and ac- force is growing at around 2.7 per cent celerated depletion of natural re- annually.9 sources.5 According to the Egyptian State Information Service, one of the The principal export commodities for fundamental goals of Egypts policy is the country include oil, agricultural to redistribute the population and to products (especially cotton and tex- make full use of the so far unexploited tiles), metal products and chemicals. areas and natural resources available. The estimated value of exports for Great attention is presently directed 1999 was US$ 4.5 billion. Major trade to the new cities with special empha- partners include the United States, the sis given to the master development European Union and Japan. The value plan of Sinai; an area with huge eco- of imports for 1999 amounted to nomic and strategic potential. 6 US$ 17 billion. The major import com- modities are fuel, foods, and capital The major ethnic group in Egypt is the goods.10 Eastern Hamitic (Egyptians, Bedouins, and Berbers) forming 99 per cent of Tourism forms an important part of the population. The remaining one per Egypts export earnings. In Novem- cent is made up of people of Greek, ber 1997 the tourism industry faced a Nubian, Armenian, and other Euro- setback with the massacre of 58 tour- pean (primarily French and Italian) ists by Islamic militants in Luxor. While origin. While the majority of the Egyp- the government took immediate steps tians are Sunni Muslims, there is a to alleviate the situation, there was a minor faction that practices Coptic 19 per cent fall
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