All questions

Telecommunications and web entry

i Web and web protocol regulationFixed providers licences

Web and telephony providers are ruled by the Telecommunications Legislation and these providers can’t be offered to the general public freely. Entities wishing to supply these providers are required to acquire a licence from the NTRA pursuant to Article 21 of the Telecommunications Legislation. The NTRA is the one authority that may difficulty such licences and has the powers to find out its necessities based on Article 22 of the Telecommunications Legislation.

As beforehand talked about, the NTRA is entitled to award 4 completely different classes of licences:

1. fastened providers licences;
2. wi-fi providers licences;
3. worldwide providers licences; and
4. licences to assemble, function and lease infrastructure for telecom networks.

For the aim of this part, we might be discussing fastened providers licences.

A set providers licence includes two sub-categories, one for telephony providers (i.e., landline service licences) and one for web providers (i.e., information providers licences). These licences differ in scope. Landline service licences give the licensee the appropriate to arrange and set up the core infrastructure of telecom networks, to supply fastened native and worldwide telephony providers in addition to fax providers (this licence is barely awarded to Telecom Egypt (TE))¹⁶ or to supply a hard and fast service utilizing the core infrastructure of licences to arrange and set up the infrastructure of telecom networks.¹⁷

Whereas information providers licences give the licensee the appropriate to arrange, handle and function the core infrastructure crucial for providing web providers solely and doesn’t embrace the appropriate to supply voice telephony providers.

Potential licensees are typically required to submit an software to the NTRA¹⁸ containing:

1. an in depth description of the corporate;
2. related paperwork displaying that the applicant has related expertise within the subject of building or working telecommunication networks;
3. an in depth marketing strategy and feasibility research; and
4. info displaying that the applicant has satisfactory monetary capability and solvency to hold out all of the phrases, circumstances and obligations set forth within the licence.¹⁹

The place the NTRA is glad with the undertaking, it is going to difficulty its determination inside a interval not exceeding 90 days from the date the applicant submitted all requested paperwork to the NTRA, in any other case the appliance shall be thought-about rejected.²⁰ This approval additionally consists of the phrases and circumstances thereof that will range from one service to a different. Nonetheless, generally, the licensee should present the service to customers with none discrimination, abide by the service high quality and effectivity requirements, and adjust to all sanitary, environmental, planning and building security laws, amongst different issues.

Sub-sea cables

Sub-sea cables have gotten more and more vital to Egypt’s telecommunications sector. By way of its state-owned TE, the nation launched varied initiatives to accommodate and assemble the required infrastructure for sub-sea cables passing by way of Egypt.²¹ To have the ability to function sub-sea cables, entities should acquire a submarine cable community licence.

This sort of licence requires additional licensing obligations. Notably the applicant should:

1. type a consortium that features one or two entities that maintain a submarine cable community licence in Egypt and a regional or worldwide operator;
2. present all technical descriptions relating to the submarine cables, touchdown factors and an outline of the infrastructure that might be constructed and operated;
3. adjust to the environmental laws, nationwide safety, and security at sea and seashore protections, and the offshore petroleum buildings and pipelines and every other infrastructure within the Egyptian territorial waters;
4. decide to paying an acceptable monetary safety as decided by the NTRA; and
5. commit to creating the required upfront fee in addition to the annual licensing charges, the royalty charges and the right-of-way charges to the NTRA.

That mentioned, solely TE has obtained such a licence, which was issued for the needs of ‘constructing and working submarine fiber-optic cables, touchdown stations and [establishing a] proper of method’.

ii Common service

Availability of common service is without doubt one of the 4 ideas of any telecommunication service²² that the Ministry of Communications and Info Expertise (MCIT) has been attempting to implement for the reason that adoption of the Telecommunications Legislation in 2003 and it varieties a part of the Egyptian Info Society Initiative.²³ The Telecommunications Legislation launched the common service fund (USF), established in 2005.²⁴ Pursuant to Article 9 of the Telecommunications Legislation, the NTRA is answerable for managing that fund, which goals primarily to fund infrastructure initiatives required for establishing the common service rule and initiatives of the telecommunication and knowledge nationwide plan.

The NTRA performs an vital function with regard to common service since it’s answerable for setting the common service coverage, defining the unserved areas, figuring out common service initiatives yearly and defining financing mechanisms for common service initiatives.²⁵

Moreover, in 2012, TE began a nationwide broadband plan (eMisr nationwide broadband plan)²⁶ aiming to increase the geographical protection of broadband infrastructure, improve the broadband subscriber base and supply residents in non-economically viable rural areas with the means to entry broadband providers.

iii Restrictions on the availability of serviceNet neutrality

There are not any particular laws on web neutrality in Egypt. Nonetheless, Article 65 of the Structure states that ‘all people have the appropriate to specific their opinion by way of speech, writing, imagery, or every other technique of expression and publication’. Furthermore, the state shall defend residents’ rights to make use of all types of public technique of communication.²⁷ Moreover, and contemplating that telecommunication providers have to be primarily based on transparency,²⁸ and since community service suppliers should present web connectivity providers to customers with out discrimination for any cause,²⁹ in precept, web service suppliers can not management or select any content material offered by community customers.

Nonetheless, the newly enacted Cybercrimes Legislation prohibits community customers from posting any content material that violates the ethical values of Egyptian society or the sanctity of personal life,³⁰ and grants investigative authorities the facility to request the competent court docket to order the blocking of a web site (no matter location of its streaming) that shows any phrases, numbers, pictures, movies or promotional supplies that represent one of many crimes listed within the legislation and threaten or endanger the state’s nationwide safety or financial system. Nonetheless, in circumstances of an emergency or danger of imminent injury, the authority with judicial arrest powers might request the NTRA to request the service supplier to briefly block the web site or content material. The service supplier should abide by the NTRA’s directions.³¹

However the above, service suppliers may be requested to observe content material by way of court docket order or for the aim of an investigation based on the Structure, the Felony Code, the Telecommunications Legislation, the Cybercrimes Legislation and the Knowledge Safety Legislation.

Unsolicited cellphone calls, faxes, emails and texts

Earlier than the Knowledge Safety Legislation, no particular provisions ruled unsolicited cellphone calls, faxes, emails and texts. Solely the Telecommunications Legislation offered that any telecommunication service would defend customers’ rights with out specifying what these rights have been.³² As well as, Article 76 of the Telecommunications Legislation stipulates that with out prejudice to the appropriate for appropriate indemnity, a fantastic of not lower than 500 Egyptian kilos and never exceeding 20,000 Egyptian kilos, or penalty of confinement to jail, or each, shall be inflicted on whoever (1) makes use of or assists in utilizing illegitimate means to conduct telecommunication correspondence; and (2) premeditatedly disturbs or harasses a 3rd celebration by misusing telecommunication gear. Now, nonetheless, the Knowledge Safety Legislation regulates direct digital advertising and marketing in Articles 17–18. These Articles lay down the circumstances for such exercise and require that:

1. prior consent of the info topic be obtained;
2. the communication consists of the native land and id of the sender;
3. the sender has a legitimate handle to be reached at;
4. the advertising and marketing materials comprises a reference demonstrating that the aim of the communication is for direct advertising and marketing; and
5. mechanisms are offered in a clear and user-friendly method to allow the info topic to reject the digital communication or to resign its consent to ship the non-public information.

Moreover, the Cybercrimes Legislation prohibits any particular person from sending repeated unsolicited emails or permitting entry to non-public information to a web site for functions of promoting with out the info topic’s consent. These crimes are topic to a penalty of imprisonment for not lower than six months or a fantastic not lower than 50,000 Egyptian kilos and never exceeding 100,000 Egyptian kilos, or each.³³

iv Privateness and information safety

Normally, since 2016 Egypt has been adopting new legal guidelines and laws limiting nationwide safety authorities’ powers by offering a course of for the gathering of private information with out infringing upon personal lives.

Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity is a rising concern in Egypt. With the rise of cyberattacks in all varieties, Egypt promulgated the primary Cybercrimes Legislation to make sure our on-line world safety and stop any crimes that may be dedicated utilizing info know-how.

The Cybercrimes Legislation applies to service suppliers, as described above.³⁴ This Legislation has a broad jurisdictional scope because it doesn’t solely apply to crimes dedicated in Egypt but in addition crimes dedicated by non-Egyptians outdoors Egypt each time the act is penalised within the jurisdiction during which it’s dedicated underneath sure circumstances.³⁵

For the needs of limiting safety breaches and assaults, service suppliers are required underneath Article 2 of the Cybercrimes Legislation to make sure the confidentiality of the collected information. This obligation has been strengthened with the adoption of the Cybercrimes Govt Rules.³⁶

The Cybercrimes Legislation goals to penalise unlawful acts regarding monetary fraud;³⁷ breach of the sanctity of personal life;³⁸ or every other act that endangers the very important pursuits of the state.³⁹ Penalties vary from fines to extreme phrases of imprisonment. Furthermore, and except for felony penalties, the Cybercrimes Legislation affords the likelihood for the competent investigative authority to dam entry to any web site that commits one of many crimes talked about within the Legislation pursuant to Articles 7 and eight.

The EG-CERT is the competent physique with regards to cyberattacks and cybersecurity. It handles incidents and assaults focusing on the Egyptian important info infrastructure⁴⁰ and mitigates cyber threats. To train its powers absolutely, service suppliers managing important info infrastructure are required to inform EG-CERT of any safety breach pursuant to Article 3 of the Cybercrimes Govt Rules. The EG-CERT serves additionally as the purpose of contact for worldwide cooperation in cybercrimes issues.

Whereas correspondences’ and communications’ interception is prohibited underneath the Structure,⁴¹ investigative authorities have judicial arrest powers to gather or seize information, to examine and penetrate databases, and to order service suppliers to submit any information or info possessed in relation to an info system, in addition to the service customers’ information,⁴² and to supply nationwide safety authorities with all of the technical capacities permitting these entities to train their powers.⁴³ Moreover, and pursuant to Article 3 of the issuance articles of the Knowledge Safety Legislation, controllers and processors should adjust to any request from nationwide safety entities to submit any private information. The identical obligations may be discovered underneath Articles 19 and 64(2) of the Telecommunications Legislation. Furthermore, and in accordance with the Felony Procedures Code No. 150 of 1950 (the Felony Procedures Code), investigative authorities have the appropriate to grab correspondences and to intercept any communications⁴⁴ on the situation that the investigations resulting in the order to conduct any of the foregoing are severe and credible.⁴⁵

Privateness and information safety

For a very long time, Egypt didn’t have any particular laws on information safety, and private information was solely protected underneath basic and sectoral provisions (e.g., the Egyptian Structure,⁴⁶ civil legislation⁴⁷ and felony legislation⁴⁸). Given the significance of private information, Egypt lastly promulgated and printed the primary Knowledge Safety Legislation in 2020. This Knowledge Safety Legislation is essentially primarily based on the provisions of the Basic Knowledge Safety Regulation (GDPR); nonetheless, some variations exist. In accordance with the articles of the issuance articles, the Knowledge Safety Legislation got here into pressure three months following its publication, and its govt laws ought to have been issued inside six months of its coming into pressure. Nonetheless, to today, the chief laws have but to be issued. Entities affected by their provisions might be given one 12 months from the date of publication of the chief laws⁴⁹ to adjust to these provisions.

The primary purpose of the Knowledge Safety Legislation is to make sure the safety of private information, which is outlined within the Legislation as ‘any information regarding an recognized or identifiable pure particular person, who may be recognized straight or not directly by reference to an identifier’.⁵⁰ This legislation applies to any private information processed electronically, partially or completely, by any recipient, controller or processor.⁵¹ Nonetheless, opposite to the GDPR, the Knowledge Safety Legislation doesn’t apply to non-public information stored by monetary establishments.⁵²

As within the GDPR, private information have to be collected and processed lawfully, and just for reputable functions, and should not be saved for a interval longer than the interval essential to fulfil the aim of its assortment or processing.⁵³ The Knowledge Safety Legislation empowers information topics to have management over their private information since information can’t be collected with out the info topic’s consent (besides in some circumstances).⁵⁴ Knowledge topics have the appropriate to entry, right and erase the info, to object to information assortment and to be made conscious of any breach or violation of their private information.⁵⁵

As talked about above, one of many predominant provisions of this legislation is that it establishes a Centre for the aim of monitoring and guaranteeing compliance with the provisions of the legislation. The Centre could have powers, inter alia, to difficulty licences, permits and accreditations for regulated actions and individuals, and to oversee the entities topic to the provisions of this legislation.⁵⁶ Nonetheless, controllers and processors topic to the provisions of the GDPR can course of private information with out the obtainment of any licence for the reason that GDPR establishes a system of accountability.⁵⁷ Solely when the processing will end in a excessive danger to the rights and freedoms of pure individuals an information influence evaluation should be carried out and, if the chance stays, the controller shall, previous to processing, search a session with the Supervisory Authority.⁵⁸

To make sure compliance with the provisions of the Knowledge Safety Legislation, controllers and processors are underneath the duty to nominate an information safety officer.⁵⁹ Apart from guaranteeing that private information is processed in accordance with the provisions of the legislation, the info safety officer is the purpose of contact for the Centre in addition to affected people.

Failing to adjust to the provisions of the Knowledge Safety Legislation exposes the controller or processor to administrative⁶⁰ and felony⁶¹ penalties that may attain as much as imprisonment. Not like the Knowledge Safety Legislation, the sanctions within the GDPR are considerably larger and might attain as much as €20 million or, within the case of an enterprise, as much as 4 per cent of the entire worldwide annual turnover of the previous monetary 12 months, whichever is larger.⁶² As well as, the GDPR doesn’t embrace any custodial sentences.

Relating to the safety of youngsters on-line, the brand new Knowledge Safety Legislation, underneath the primary Article, considers youngsters’s information as delicate information that requires additional safety. For the needs of guaranteeing such safety, any youngsters’s information processing mustn’t happen with out mother and father’ or authorized guardians’ consent.⁶³ Moreover, the kid’s participation in any recreation or competitors shouldn’t be conditioned on the gathering of any information that exceeds what is important. Furthermore, the Kid’s Legislation⁶⁴ punishes any person who makes use of info know-how to make, retailer, course of, present, print or publish any pornographic visuals to incite youngsters to work in prostitution, pornography or to commit crimes or unlawful acts.⁶⁵