Egypt's Raya Technology and Communication is no longer interested in bidding for two licences to supply cable, voice and Internet services to residential compounds, a report said.

The National Telecommunication Regulatory Authority announced in September it was offering two such licences to serve Egypt's rapidly growing residential compounds in suburbs and satellite cities.

"Raya has officially decided to withdraw from bidding," Al-Mal newspaper reported, citing Medhat Khalil, chairman of Raya. The firm sells mobile handsets, runs call centres and provides outsourced IT services.

Khalil said the company would not make sufficient profit from the licence because of the tough conditions the regulatory authority put on them.

Analysts say the licences are restricted both in geographical scope and the range of services, leaving Telecom Egypt's fixed-line monopoly largely intact.

Egypt expects the successful bidders to invest $1 billion over five years. The bids were initially due in January, but the deadline was delayed to April 15 at the request of some bidders.

At least 18 firms bought bid documents, including existing mobile operators Mobinil and Vodafone Egypt and regional operator Orascom Telecom. - Reuters