The Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat has had an inspection tour in Sharm El-Sheikh to follow up on the information infrastructure preparations in the city, as part of the arrangements for hosting the United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference (COP27), and to ensure rendering digital services, high-speed Internet access, and communication services in hotels and tourist facilities that will host COP27 participants.
The ICT Minister was accompanied on the tour by South Sinai Governor Khaled Fouda, Deputy ICT Minister for Infrastructure Raafat Hindy, the Managing Director and CEO of Telecom Egypt Adel Hamed, and Assistant ICT Minister for Global Information Infrastructure (GII) Mohamed Nasr Eldin.
Talaat emphasized that the information infrastructure in Sharm El-Sheikh is well-developed to receive COP27 guests.
During his visit, the ICT Minister inspected Sharm El-Sheikh International Airport to ensure access to Internet services efficiently free of charge to accommodate the expected traffic surge during COP27. This is in addition to providing a distinguished experience for Egyptian or foreign visitors of the city. He also inspected the kiosks providing different telecommunications services, including Telecom Egypt, inside Terminal 2, the International Arrival Hall. The kiosk has been established by Telecom Egypt to facilitate access to services for COP27 guests.
Talaat also launched COP27 mobile application, which can be downloaded from the App Store and Google Play. Through the app, participants can receive many health, tourism, and logistics services. They can plan their trips, know COP27 latest news, and translate instructions or signs into their languages. The application also provides main emergency services and means of direct contact with customer service for visitors.
The app has been completely developed by Egyptians, in cooperation with a national company and in coordination with digital services providers from ministries and government agencies through technological systems to provide various services to COP27 participants. The ICT Minister highlighted that the application is a guide for COP27 participants.
Talaat visited Jolie Ville Golf and Resort and Grand Rotana Resort and Spa to check the Internet speed after completing the connection of 104 hotels in Sharm El-Sheikh through a fiber-optic network. The project was co-implemented by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, and the Signal Department of the Armed Forces, through Telecom Egypt, making Sharm El-Sheikh the first city in Egypt to provide Internet services with international standards. The aim of the project is to enable access to high-speed Internet for COP27 guests.
The ICT Minister tested the Internet speed and instructed that free high-speed Internet be made available in hotels’ lobbies. He also checked the mobile network coverage throughout the visit, in tourist facilities and their surroundings, and main roads.
The ICT Minister also listened to representatives of the National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA); they sketched out plans to strengthen the four mobile networks’ coverage to accommodate the excepted traffic surge during COP27.
Talaat headed to the conference area hosting COP27 and began by inspecting the Blue Zone, managed by the UN Secretariat. He also inspected the guest entry points and the spaces designated for governments and institutions as well as the efficiency of preparations in the Egyptian government’s pavilion. The ICT Minister also visited COP27 main halls and inspected the primary and exchange data centers that will host the servers and telecommunications equipment and checked their high reliability.
During the visit, MCIT technical team—which supervises the technical preparations—and implementing companies presented the features and size of operations, presentation tools in the halls, and Internet speed at the main hall and the Blue Zone. The ICT Minister called on Telecom Egypt to enable the fastest possible Internet connection in all conference venues according to international standards.
Talaat met with the companies implementing the information infrastructure project. He thanked them for the efforts made during the last period and their achievements in developing and preparing the information infrastructure to completely transform Sharm El-Sheikh into a green smart city.
The ICT Minister called on the companies and MCIT technical team to intensify their efforts and use the latest advanced technologies to ensure an excellent organization of the event in a way that reflects Egypt’s global leadership in the ICT arena.
Talaat also inspected one of the environmentally-friendly electric buses, dedicated for the conference guests. The bus has been equipped with state-of-the-art technologies and transformed into a smart vehicle.
The ICT Minister inspected the Green Zone established in Peace Square. The Green Zone serves as a platform that enables ministries, the business community, youth, women, and civil society to express themselves and present their ideas. He ensured the provision of information services, presentation tools inside the halls, and Internet coverage in the Zone.
Concluding his visit, Talaat drove Telecom Egypt’s smart green car and inspected the transformation of its cellular base stations into environmentally-friendly ones by installing solar power plants. Talaat also checked the expansion and upgrade of Sharm El-Sheikh’s mobile network and the use of all available frequencies to ensure accommodation of the expected usage volume during COP27 to deliver the best possible image of telecommunications services in Egypt.
