The Vice President of the Mobile Division of the Cairo Chamber of Commerce Walid Ramadan said on Friday that the chamber sent an invitation to the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority for an urgent meeting to clarify whether or not there is a decision to stop mobile phones imported from abroad.
Local media had reported that mobile phones imported from abroad were stopped and fees were imposed on them in order to work on Egyptian networks.
In a phone interview with TV host Amr Adib on the “al-Hekaya” (The Story) show, Walid added that these reports have caused a great deal of anxiety among Egypt’s mobile phone dealers.
“If someone returns from abroad and brings with them a mobile phone from abroad to use or gift it to someone, it is not normal for him to pay customs or tax on it,” he noted.
Walid said that the Mobile Division is in favor of regulating the market, but with an application mechanism and a grace period in order to reconcile the situation.
“I may have bought a phone when I was coming from traveling, then I sold it to someone who kept it in the closet for a while, and then he would turn it on and he would find it stopped. This is not normal,” he explained.
