Egypt’s Mobile Operators "Reroute Network" Traffic After Ramses Central Office Fire

Egypt’s three major mobile network operators — Vodafone Egypt, Orange Egypt, and Etisalat by e& Egypt — have begun rerouting their network traffic to alternative switching centers across the country following a fire that broke out early Wednesday at the Ramses Central Office in downtown Cairo.

The fire, which disrupted core telecommunications infrastructure, prompted an immediate emergency response from telecom providers to safeguard service continuity. Key alternative hubs currently handling redirected traffic include El Obour and El Hosary switching centers, among others.

Rapid Network Reconfiguration

Sources within the telecom sector confirmed to The Journal that the operators activated contingency plans designed for critical outages. These measures involve the technical redistribution of voice call routing and data services (network traffic) to backup facilities to prevent widespread service degradation.

“The network load has been successfully distributed across other central exchanges with minimal impact on end users,” said a senior telecom engineer involved in the process, who requested anonymity due to lack of authorization to speak publicly. “The goal is to maintain stability while the damaged facility is being assessed and repaired.”

Fire Contained, Investigations Underway

Civil defense teams were able to contain the fire without reported injuries. Preliminary reports suggest the blaze may have been caused by an electrical short circuit, but a formal investigation has been launched to determine the exact cause.

While full damage assessments are ongoing, officials from Telecom Egypt, which owns and operates the national fixed-line infrastructure including the Ramses exchange, are cooperating with mobile operators to restore full capacity.

Service Impact and User Experience

Although no official service outage was announced, some users across Greater Cairo reported temporary disruptions in call quality and slower data speeds during the morning hours. Operators have since reassured customers that services are being restored to normal through their contingency infrastructure.

Industry analysts say the incident highlights the importance of resilient digital infrastructure and the role of redundancy planning in telecom networks. “This fire could have had a much more significant impact if not for the quick response and routing flexibility built into Egypt’s telecom backbone,” one analyst noted.

Looking Ahead

Authorities are expected to issue a formal report on the incident in the coming days. Meanwhile, restoration efforts at the Ramses Central Office are underway, with full repairs likely to take several weeks depending on the extent of the damage.