In a move to connect more institutions and firms to the information superhighway, Egyptian Internet companies are gearing up to provide free services, according to an expert quoted in Al Ahram Arabic daily.
“The provision of free Internet services for clients in Egypt will upgrade the performance of local companies and increase competition … in the interests of consumers, who will have the opportunity to choose the best companies to deal with,” said Khaled Bishara, the president of an Internet service provider in Egypt and the Arab World.
“Egypt has become number one in terms of the growing number of Internet subscribers,” Bishara added. “This growth will deepen people’s awareness of the importance of the economic and commercial services that the Internet can provide.”
The new step comes within the framework of the government’s efforts, spearheaded by the Ministry of Communications and Information, to provide free Internet services for individuals and corporations.
The aim is to speed up the exchange of information between various corporations and institutions in order to improve and upgrade public services.
Egyptian IT industry experts and officials said the next few months would witness a 25 percent increase in the number of Internet users and subscribers, which would bring the number of web surfers in Egypt to three million this year.
Bishara pointed out that the Egyptian Telecommunications company had played an important role in developing the country’s Internet services, thereby enhancing Egypt’s drive to become a center of e-commerce in the Middle East - Albawaba.com
