5G licenses could soon be up for grabs: The National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) is planning to issue a tender for Egypt’s first licenses to provide 5G services as early as December, Asharq Business wrote on Thursday, citing sources it says are in the know. The regional outlet reported that the 5G licenses will begin at USD 500 mn, but a source at one of the mobile network operators, who confirmed the when we spoke, told us that the value of the license had not yet been agreed on by the authorities.

A nice source of FX if there is appetite: Telecom license fees have traditionally been paid for in FX.

The industry expects the license tenders to be unveiled in December — or early next year at the latest, our source told us. There’s enough spectrum on offer for all four incumbents — Orange, Vodafone, Etisalat, and Telecom Egypt’s We — to bid.

What is 5G? Really, really fast internet — and the successor to the 4G standard we use now in Egypt. In theory, it can deliver speeds up to 100x faster than 4G with ultra-low latency that could allow everything from remote surgeries to super-fast downloads and a “true” internet of things. It’s slowly rolling out in developed markets, and when it works (and it’s not chewing up your battery), it’s amazing.

Do we have the capacity for it? Egypt has the infrastructure to introduce 5G, but its accessibilityand efficiency will largely depend on how much telecom providers are willing to pay and how they will price the service to customers, former Communications Minister Khaled Negm told Enterprise.

Egypt is a whole generation behind: Egypt has only tapped 10% of the 4G services available,Negm said, adding that the government needs to invest in expanding these services, increasing their effectiveness, and increasing its governance of the activities carried out using these services.

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