Telecom Egypt, the country's fixed-line monopoly, said on Sunday it plans to expand the services it offers in Jordan and connect the country to its TE North undersea cable, which runs from Egypt to France.

The firm has upgraded its limited licence in Jordan to one which will allow it to extend the cable into Jordan, chief commercial officer Emad Elazhary was quoted as saying in the newspaper al-Borsa.

An executive at Telecom Egypt confirmed the news to Reuters.

The mostly state-owned firm currently operates a branch of its TE Data internet service provider in Jordan.

It has said it expects to begin operating its TE North cable by mid-year, the main part of a cable business it sees adding revenue of EGP700-800 million ($124-142 million) in 2010.

The cable travels from a site west of the Egyptian port city Alexandria to Marseilles in France and connects with a line from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean.

Telecom Egypt spent some $150 million on the cable.-Reuters