Telecom Egypt moves toward VoIP offering

CAIRO, May 16 (UPI) -- Telecom Egypt is transforming part of its national network to accommodate Voice over Internet Protocol capability.

The company expects the upgrade to stabilize its subscriber base and open the door to new services as Egypt begins to open its telecom market to foreign competitors.

Telecom will be deploying an IP-based network transformation solution from Alcatel that includes switching and media gateway equipment that will allow an interface between the new IP network and existing time-division multiplexing network.

Vice Chairman Dawlat El Badawi said in an Alcatel news release Tuesday that Telecom would be able to "provide our customers with the highest levels of excellence in all areas of service provisioning."