Egypt court rules antitrust watchdog ECA authorised to investigate mobile companies

An Egyptian administrative court ruled on Wednesday that the state's antitrust watchdog, the Egyptian Competition Authority (ECA), is the only body authorised to examine monopolistic practices in the telecommunication sector, an ECA statement read.
The case was filed by the Orange Egypt company, which claimed that the ECA did not have the right to refer telecommunication companies to court and were trespassing on the authority of the National Telecom Regulatory Authority.

There are currently three operating mobile companies in Egypt: Orange Egypt (formerly Mobinil), Vodafone Egypt and Etisalat.

A fourth mobile license was recently awarded to state-owned telephone company Telecom Egypt.