Full restoration of internet services across Egypt isn't expected before the end of the week, following a renewed fire at the Ramses exchange building in central Cairo, a telecom ministry source told Al Manassa.
The source explained that the re-ignition of the fire last Thursday disrupted efforts to fully restore internet and landline services, which had initially been scheduled to return midweek.
“The renewed blaze delayed the return of fixed internet services by at least two days, despite intensive recovery efforts,” the source said.
The initial fire broke out on Monday, July 7, at the Ramses central exchange, severely damaging core infrastructure, including primary cables and servers. Thick smoke from the blaze also disrupted surrounding traffic and communications.
According to the source, Telecom Egypt has achieved near-complete recovery, while customers using Vodafone, Orange, and E& (formerly Etisalat Misr) are experiencing continued disruptions.
On Tuesday, Jul. 8, parliament summoned the minister of communications for an emergency session to respond to urgent queries raised by MPs about the incident’s wide-reaching impact on digital services.
In a technical report issued the same day, the digital rights organization Masaar Center called for a comprehensive review of what it described as Egypt’s “fragile” digital infrastructure.
The group urged authorities to investigate vulnerabilities exposed by the fire and to improve resilience in telecommunications systems.
Meanwhile, the Egyptian Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises urged the government to provide emergency compensation to small investors who lost access to digital financial and communication tools.
Federation president Alaa El-Saqty told Al Manassa the group estimates total losses to be between 20 and 30 billion Egyptian pounds (approximately $404–606 million).
