Prices for internet ADSL services are scheduled to increase by 4 percent starting from September, a source from the communications ministry told state news agency MENA on Sunday.
This increase is said to be part of a planned rise in value-added tax from 10 to 14 percent, which was introduced in September 2016, the source added.
The VAT law is part of a government fiscal reform program aimed at cutting energy subsidies and reducing a ballooning deficit by introducing new taxes for goods and services.
The government is hoping the VAT on internet would bring in revenues of LE700 million this year, government sources told Al Borsa.
Meanwhile, telecommunications Minister Yasser al-Qadi also said on Sunday that the lowest internet speed will be four megabytes by end of 2017.
TE Data currently offers packages at 1 and 2 Mbps.
In remarks during a visit to Kafr al-Sheikh, where he initiated several developmental projects, the minister said 47 percent of the lines have a speed that reaches up to more than four megabytes, while 53 percent have a speed at 16 megabytes. Around 30,000 new users subscribed to data services in the governorate, he said.
Out of Egypt’s population of 93 million, an estimated 4.2 million use ADSL services and 27.4 million access the internet via their mobile phones, according to June 2016 figures by the state statistics authority CAPMAS, released in 2017.
