Telecommunications and internet access have largely returned to normal after last week’s fire at the Ramses Central Exchange caused major service disruptions.
Telecommunications and internet access have largely returned to normal after last week’s fire at the Ramses Central Exchange caused major service disruptions.
The fire, which broke out on Monday, briefly reignited on Thursday but was quickly extinguished by emergency crews. The incident triggered outages across several governorates, highlighting the fragility of critical infrastructure in the face of extreme weather events.
In response, the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) ordered the country’s four main telecom operators to compensate affected users.
Fixed-line internet subscribers will receive an extra 10 GB of data, while mobile users are being credited with 1 GB.
The fire comes as the country grapples with a severe heatwave, which has stoked multiple fires and pushed electricity demand to unprecedented levels. Power consumption peaked at 37 gigawatts on Thursday, raising alarms about whether the national grid can meet surging demand without resorting to blackouts.
While connectivity has been restored for most users, reports indicate that some bank ATMs remained non-operational as of Friday.
Last year, the government promised that the widespread power outages that plagued the country for two consecutive summers would not return. In preparation, it ramped up imports of mazut and secured floating storage regasification units (FSRUs) to expand LNG capacity.
However, recent reports suggest delays in deploying some of the new FSRUs, which may not be fully operational for several more weeks — potentially complicating efforts to keep the lights on during the hottest stretch of the year.
