(Ecofin Agency) - Orange Business Services, an Orange Group branch specializing in providing telecommunications and IT services for businesses, announced on February 9 that it has been appointed by Administrative Capital for Urban Development (ACUD) - owner and developer of the new administrative capital, to design and build the data center for the new Egyptian administrative capital.

The infrastructure is expected to be operational in the first half of 2021, despite the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Commenting on the deal, Sahem Azzam, Vice President Middle East, Africa and Turkey for Orange Business Services, said: “Orange Business Services is especially pleased to be selected as the trusted digital partner to this visionary and transformational project [...] We have built extensive experience in the development of major smart city projects across the Middle East and especially in the GCC, through our smart city center of excellence at our regional headquarters in Dubai. Orange has operated in Egypt for decades and our knowledge and understanding of the environment will allow us to fully adapt the design of the infrastructure to the needs of the new city”.

Orange Business Services will work on this project in collaboration with mobile operator Orange Egypt, which ACUD appointed on January 12, 2020 as prime contractor for the project. The latter also includes the deployment of a cloud computing platform.

Once fully operational, these infrastructures will be managed by Orange Egypt for five years. This will enable ACUD to deliver various enhanced services such as traffic management, smart utility management such as electricity, water and gas supply, video surveillance and smart building services. Also included are innovative solutions, such as cloud on demand for businesses and Triple-Play services (Internet - fixed phone - TV) for residents of the smart city located 35 km east of Cairo.

Muriel Edjo