Egyptian Cabinet to Review Communications law to Protect the Right to Access Information

CAIRO, April 15, 2011 - The Egyptian Cabinet of Ministers has announced a review of the current
communications law, and in particular article no. 67 which stipulates that
proper authorities of the land can instruct service providers and mobile
operators to cut their services in the case of any disaster or situation
jeopardizing the national security of the country.

(Photo: www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20110415/449937 )

The Cabinet of Ministers described the decision to cut mobile
communications and internet - taken by the previous regime during the
Egyptian revolution - as "inappropriate".

The Cabinet stressed that the process of amending the article will be
guided by similar articles in communications laws enacted by democratic and
transparent countries and said that the amended article will not be used to
curb the rights of citizens to access information or to jeopardize their
safety.

Commenting on the announcement Dr. Magued Osman, Egypt's Minister of
Communications and Information Technology, said: "The communications and
Internet cut will not happen again in the future as the ministry is currently
preparing a law draft to amend some of the articles of the telecommunications
law no. 10, and especially article no. 67 to prohibit any entity from
unilaterally cutting communications and Internet."

The Cabinet also hailed the improvements of the Egyptian ICT sector since
1999 and the continued programs and initiatives to spread the use of Internet
amongst various communities in Egypt which resulted in more than 22 million
internet users.

The National Telecommunications Regulation Agency, NTRA, is currently
reviewing the article and will suggest the required amendment to be enacted
in the coming weeks.

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Ahmed Reda: +202-3534-5185, areda at itida.gov.eg & Rob Foyle: +44-7990-773535, rob.foyle at hillandknowlton.com