CAIRO (WiMAX Day). The luxury resorts along the Red Sea coast of Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt will soon have Internet broadband connectivity via WiMAX. In an effort to boost Internet connectivity in an area teeming with tourists but woefully lacking in Internet access, the While in Egypt Stay Connected Project has received a provisional license of 3.5 GHz spectrum to deploy a WiMAX network.

According to a press release from the development consulting firm Emerging Markets Group, two local ISPs, EgyNet and TE Data, have been selected to develop the network.

The While in Egypt Stay Connected Project is intended to improve Internet connectivity in areas of Egypt that rely heavily on tourism. The project was started in July 2006 and is being implemented by the Emerging Markets Group and other consulting firms, under direction from Egypt’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. The project is funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

In a report in AME Info, the project managers said they “believe that there are significant connectivity gaps in the high visibility tourist areas of Luxor and Namaa Bay, and claim that filling this void with a broadband wireless outdoor metropolitan area network will help to boost economic growth.”

Furthermore, the report states that EgyNet and TE Data will focus depoyment of the network on mainly for the provision of Internet access to hotels and local businesses. The network in Luxor will be built by TE Data, and the network in Namaa Bay will be built by EgyNet. It is expected that both networks will be deployed by May 2007.

Public-Private
This is the second WiMAX project promoted by the government of Egypt in recent months. In December Intel Chairman Craig Barrett was in Egypt promoting WiMAX with the help of the Egyptian Education Initiative that began in partnership with the World Economic Forum.

The Intel project is running a digital village in Oseem that connected government offices, schools and health centres to the Internet via WiMAX. According to officials at the Egyptian Education Initiative, when the test period is completed, the project will belong to the government, which will then invite local companies to make a tender bid to run the project commercially.

The National Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (NRTA) completed the final stage of its consultation for the issuance of 3.5 GHz BWA licences in January, and it is expected that the NRTA will issue licences before June 2007.