TELECOM EGYPT AND CYTA ANNOUNCE MEDITERRANEAN REGION COOPERATION     

Cairo, 3rd June, 2009: Telecom Egypt (TE) (Ticker: ETEL.CA; TEEG.LN) and Cyprus Telecommunications Authority (Cyta) today announced, that they have entered into an agreement to cooperate through extension of Telecom Egypt’s TEN Cable System to Cyprus, thereby creating reciprocal Eurasia and Eastern Mediterranean opportunities. As part of this cooperation, Cyta will purchase a fiber-pair on TEN, capable of transporting a terabit of telecommunications capacity from Cyprus to Egypt and Europe. TE, in turn, will obtain both the opportunity to transport Cyta traffic to key European and Asian destinations, and the opportunity to cost-effectively reach regional markets accessible via Cyprus.

Telecom Egypt’s TEN Cable System, which is currently under construction by Alcatel-Lucent, is scheduled to go into service towards the end of the year, linking Egypt to France with over ten terabits of telecommunications bandwidth. The cable system is being installed with underwater branching units, which enable TEN to be extended to other Mediterranean countries in the future, including Greece. These extensions will form MedGateway - a bridge between Mediterranean countries, Europe and Asia. The extensions will also provide TE with access to new markets, as well as the opportunity to provide these MedGateway partners with connectivity to key markets in Europe and Asia through TE’s extended network, beyond France and Egypt.

Cyta currently serves as a hub for regional telecommunications in the Eastern Mediterranean, with cables linking Cyprus to the Levant region, Greece, Egypt, Italy, and other European destinations. Cyta’s new fiber-pair subsystem, which will be named ALEXANDROS, will complement these existing facilities, enhancing the robustness of Cyta’s international access through physical diversity and significant increase in bandwidth.

Mr. Akil Beshir, Chairman of Telecom Egypt echoed the enthusiasm in this cooperation reached between Cyta and TE. "Telecom Egypt is pleased that Cyta is our first regional partner to join the MedGateway project as part of the TEN. Along with our existing fiber-pair customers, who rely on TEN as a critical conduit between Asia, Africa and Europe, this agreement has assured that TEN is truly becoming a regional and global building block for international communications through the region. Through each of these relationships, TE aims to continue to expand its reach to major destinations of the globe."

"Cyta is extremely pleased to have reached agreement with Telecom Egypt for this new and important project for Cyprus. ALEXANDROS will enable Cyta to have access to new opportunities to better serve our customers both at home as well as our neighbours in the region. Our partnership with Telecom Egypt affords us the opportunity, through TE, to allow our customers to reach the world." said Mr. Stavros Kremmos, Chairman of Cyta’s Board of Directors.