With a population of over 100.5 million people, Egypt has the largest telecommunications market among North African countries. The local mobile market is also the largest with the penetration of about 97%. Impressive flows of international traffic make it possible to make good money on voice traffic termination in Egypt, despite the relatively low rate (about $0.04 per minute of conversation).
Several mobile service providers compete in the local mobile market, which has a positive effect on local call rates. There are 4 mobile operators in Egypt:
- Vodafone.
- Orange.
- Etisalat.
- WE.
Orange used to be the market leader, but now Vodafone has taken its place (the number of connections is more than 38.5 million). The first three operators have approximately the same GSM coverage, for WE it is slightly worse.
You can buy a prepaid SIM card in Egypt for about $1.5. By law, to buy the card you need to visit the operator’s shop, present a passport and state your living address in Egypt (for example, a rental housing or a hotel). It is clear that this option is not suitable for termination. You can find a supplier of cards via dedicated online forums or by visiting small gift shops. In these stores they sell the SIM-cards already used by someone or new ones registered in somebody's name.
Subject to choosing a favorable tariff plan, a minute of a call within the country may cost as low as $0.005. With average voip call rates egypt about 4 cents, the terminator earnings in Egypt will be at least $150 from each channel of equipment.