Cairo 28/4/2010

The Egyptian security bodies in collaboration with the state's national security bodies, Telecom Egypt (TE) and the National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA) determined the site of a company in Maadi district that had been controlling (through that site) a telecom network to bypass illegal incoming international calls.

It has been proven that the company, in collaboration with other foreign companies, bypassed international telephony traffic incoming to Egypt beyond the legal international gateways. This resulted in losses amounting to millions of Egyptian pounds per annum and affected negatively the state's national security.

The Egyptian security bodies, in collaboration with a committee representing TE and NTRA, broke into the company's headquarters in Maadi district. The security bodies and committee members apprehended what evidenced the company's bypassing of international calls, and arrested Zyad Ahmad Fatehy Rokba and Basem Ahmad El-Badawy who had been previously involved in other litigations in this concern. The prosecuting attorney ordered the release of the accused after paying 20,000 Egyptian pounds for each as bail until they were put on trial.

Dr Omar El-Sherif, the NTRA's legal advisor, stated that committing such crimes (as bypassing international calls beyond licensed networks or gateways) was considered a violation of the provisions of Article (21) of Egypt Telecommunication Regulation Law No. 10/2003 that stipulated that  'It is prohibited to establish or operate Telecommunication Networks, provide Telecommunication Services, by-pass international telephone calls or announce any of these without obtaining a license from the NTRA in accordance with the provisions of this Law and its executive resolutions.'

The provisions of Article (72) of the same Law stipulated the punishment of this violation as it stated that 'Whoever carries out any of the following acts without obtaining a license from the NTRA according to the provisions of this law shall be liable to prison for a period of not less than six months and not exceeding five years and a fine of not less than fifty thousand pounds and not exceeding five hundred thousand pounds, or either penalty:
1. Establishing or operating Telecommunication Networks.
2. Establishing Telecommunication Networks Infrastructure.
3. Providing Telecommunication Services.
4. By-passing international telephone calls by any means whatsoever.
A ruling shall be issued confiscating all equipment, sets and connections used in perpetrating such crimes. A ruling shall also be passed obliging the convict to pay suitable compensation in the case prescribed in item 4 of this article.'