The number of mobile phone subscriptions in Egypt rose by a fifth in July from a year earlier, a state website showed on Wednesday.
Subscriptions grew to 60.3 million in July, up 1.3 million from June, the website said. A year ago, Egypt's three mobile operators had just over 50 million subscribers.
Egypt is the Arab world's most populous country, with some 78 million inhabitants.
Industry analysts and executives say the country has the potential to achieve 65 million mobile accounts, although such estimates assume 20 to 25 percent of the market involves second phones.
Monthly growth has slowed since last December, when 1.7 million subscriptions were added. Analysts partly blame delays in a plan to add an extra digit to numbers, which meant operators struggled to assign numbers to new customers.
The head of the telecoms regulator told Reuters in July that Egypt was looking into options for a fourth mobile license, including a virtual network.
State-owned landline monopoly Telecom Egypt has expressed interest in a new license.
