Egypt's telecoms regulator said on Thursday it would issue a licence allowing a company to operate fixed-line and mobile networks in the coming weeks, a move that would allow Telecom Egypt to offer mobile services.

Hesham el-Alaily, head of National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, said the licence was nearly ready. "We are in the final stages," he said at an economic conference in Cairo.

Egypt's three existing mobile phone service providers are Vodafone Egypt, Mobinil and Etisalat Egypt. – Reuters