Vodafone: Egypt Ordered Cell Phone Service Stopped

LONDON — The Egyptian government ordered all mobile telephone operators to suspend services "in selected areas" of the country, telecommunications company Vodafone said Friday.

In a statement, the company said "under Egyptian legislation, the authorities have the right to issue such an order and we are obliged to comply with it."

Britain-based Vodafone Group PLC is one of the largest mobile phone operator in Egypt, with more than 25 million subscribers. It said Egyptian authorities "will be clarifying the situation in due course."

Internet communications in Egypt were also severely disrupted Friday as the government sought to interfere with a day of protests against President Hosni Mubarak.

Egypt's four primary Internet providers – Link Egypt, Vodafone/Raya, Telecom Egypt, Etisalat Misr – and all went dark at 12:34 a.m. Those companies shuttle all Internet traffic into and out of Egypt, although many people get their service through additional local providers with different names.

Comments

[FreeAmerican7]

03:31 PM on 01/30/2011

Aha! A Foreign Company in BED with the Mubarak Regime!

[KarlaElisa]

03:21 PM on 01/30/2011

AJELive
Live Stream of latest AJE #egypt coverage from correspondents on ground in Tahrir Square with thousands of protesters http://aje.me/fwtYjF

[KarlaElisa]

03:11 PM on 01/30/2011

This company is making itself a target and I hope when the dust settles it is remembered how complicit they have been in denying their service to protect such a brutal regime.