Full restoration of telecom services disrupted by the Ramses Central Exchange fire will not happen before next week, a Ministry of Communications source told Al Manassa, contradicting official claims of near-complete recovery.
Despite Minister of Communications Amr Talaat’s statement Tuesday that 95% of services had resumed, the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the actual figure stands closer to 80%. “Recovery is still incomplete, especially for home internet customers,” they said.
The blaze erupted Monday in a server room on the seventh floor of the 11-story Ramses exchange building in downtown Cairo. The inferno crippled internet, telecommunications, and digital payment systems nationwide, causing significant delays in banking operations, stock trading platforms, and mobile networks.
Customers of Vodafone, Orange, and E& Egypt are seeing more prolonged disruptions to fixed-line internet compared to Telecom Egypt, which holds a larger market share and has more resilient infrastructure. “The extent of damage varied based on the strength of each company’s network and ability to reroute traffic,” the source said.
Authorities and telecom companies are working urgently to replace damaged circuits, but the source stressed that full service will not be back before next week. “Replacing all affected circuits takes time,” the source said.
The communications minister had confirmed Monday evening that the Ramses exchange was “no longer operational.”
On Tuesday, Parliament summoned Minister Talaat for an urgent session to address concerns over the fire’s impact on digital services.
Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Mahmoud Fawzy told MPs the suspension of some electronic services had been a “deliberate precaution” to contain damage to digital infrastructure.
