The Egyptian unit of Vodafone may have overtaken Mobinil last quarter as the country's largest provider of mobile phone subscriptions, data shows.

Egypt's three mobile operators - the third is a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi-based Etisalat - are locked in a pricing spiral as they seek to grab market share before saturation.

Total subscriptions in the most populous Arab country in May declined to 58.3 million in the first monthly drop in seven months, government data released last week showed.

Analysts say the fall, due in part to a new registration system and the delayed rollout of a numbering plan, most likely hit Mobinil harder than its two rivals.

Vodafone Egypt, which had 25.79 million subscriptions at the end of June, gained almost 1.2 million during the second quarter, according to its latest figures.

Mobinil, which is due to issue second quarter results on Tuesday, had 26.12 million subscribers at end-March.

Vodafone customers in addition bring in a significantly higher average revenue per user (ARPU) than Mobinil. The landline monopoly Telecom Egypt has a 45 per cent stake in Vodafone Egypt, while Mobinil is co-owned by France Telecom and Orascom Telecom.-Reuters