The National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA) has announced that its plan to increase the length of the current mobile numbers from 10 to 11 digits will be activated starting from Thursday 6/10/2011. This will take place within the framework of the the NTRA’s Plan to increase the digital capacity of the mobile numbers that was announced in 2010 as the length of the current mobile numbers will be increased by adding a fixed digit digit to every mobile Operator. In other words, digit (2) will be added after (01) code for all the current numbers of Mobinil, digit (0) will be added to (01) code for all the current numbers of Vodafone, and digit (1) will be added to (01) code for all the current numbers of Etisalat Misr. The remaining part of the mobile number will remain as it is. For instance, (010) code will be changed to (0100), (012) code to (0122) and (011) code will be changed to (0111).

As for the current 11-digit mobile numbers which have been already issued with (015), they will be changed by replacing digit (5) by digit (0) for Vodafone, replacing digit (5) by digit (1) for Etisalat, and replacing digit (5) by digit (2) for Mobinil.

As for the subscribers who ported their mobile numbers to another Operator, their numbers will be changed as per the changed code announced by that Donor operator as clarified in the tables above.

Dr. Amr Badawi has stated that the implementation of this decision will take place pursuant to the internationally-acknowledged standards that maintain the stability of the telecom market and guarantee the access of all subscribers to calls. This change will not lead to the subscribers' loss of their numbers. Although the new scheme will require the increase in the length of the current number, this increase will take place by adding a fixed digit to the code of every Operator, while the remaining part of the current number will remain as it is.

This will guarantee that the subscribers will keep their current numbers. Dr. Badawi has pointed out that the NTRA has obligated all mobile Operators to have an adequate transitional period of not less than four months starting from Thursday 6/10/2011. In this interval, calls will be terminated to the subscriber whether the call is made through the current scheme (10 digits) or the new scheme (11 digits). In other words, the line will work during that transitional period with the two numbers (the current and new ones) so that calls will be terminated to him through either of the two schemes. It is worth mentioning that the subscriber will get a voice alert that alerts and warns him in case there is an error in connection during that transitional period. Through this voice message he will be alerted that he should a digit in case he dials the number according to the old scheme without disconnecting the call.

The mobile Operators will apply a technical mechanism to monitor the incoming traffic from the mobile subscribers with (10) and (11) digits in order to determine the duration of the transitional period that should not be less than four months.

Dr. Badawi has stated that all Mobile Operators completed all their technical installations that will ensure the safe and easy implementation of this new scheme for all subscribers. He made it clear that all Mobile Operators shall launch the advertising campaigns needed to raise their subscribers' awareness. In addition, they will help and notify their subscribers to change their contact lists in the easiest ways, providing them with the software required for this. It is worth mentioning that the contact lists currently saved on the mobile sets will not be affected by the increase in the length of the mobile number, as they are technically equipped to display the saved name whether the call is made by the old (10 digits) or the new (11 digits) scheme.

Dr. Amr Badawi has pointed out that the decision to increase the length of the mobile numbers was taken by the NTRA and all Mobile Operators agreed upon it at the beginning of 2010. The reason for this has been the near depletion of the numbering allocated to the mobile numbers, and the necessity of facing the persistent increase in the number of mobile subscribers (that exceeds 1 million subscribers monthly. Furthermore, the usage of this scheme to increase the numbering will distinguish each Mobile Operator with a distinguished code. For example, (012) code will be the distinguishing code of Mobinil, (010) code will be the distinguishing code of Vodafone and (011) code will be the distinguishing code of Etisalat Misr. In addition, (01) code will remain the distinguishing code of the mobile service and tariff in Egypt. This change will provide numbering for the mobile numbers that encompasses 1 billion numbers for the mobile subscribers for a period of time that exceeds 20 years.