As a result of a deal struck with Huawei Egypt, Telecom Egypt will use 5G and augmented reality technologies from Huawei Technology Corporation to enhance its communications services portfolio – including virtual reality and augmented reality services.

The agreement was signed by Adel Hamed, chief executive officer of Telecom Egypt, and Vincent Sun, president and chief executive officer of Huawei Egypt on the sidelines of the BRICS Future Network Innovation Forum hosted in China.

Egypt's Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat was also present.

The companies chose not to reveal the timeframe for the deal or any financial aspects.

A statement issued by Egypt's communication ministry advised: "The two sides agreed that Huawei will provide training programs for Egyptian youth, in collaboration with the training institutes and affiliates of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), including the Information Technology Institute (ITI), the National Telecommunication Institute (NTI) and the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA)."

Speaking at the Forum, Talaat said Egypt was keen to leverage opportunities linked to the fourth industrial revolution.

"We want to build a knowledge-based economy, and create a large base of qualified human calibers in future science and technology," he added.

Telecom Egypt also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer ZTE for the establishment of a joint technology training centre and an innovation lab.

The lab will be used to test telecommunications networks and train youth, engineers and technicians for mobile networks, Next Generation Passive Optical Network (NG-PON) and major data networks, with superior speed at 100 GB using fibre optic cables.

Telecom Egypt also sought China Telecom's cooperation in knowledge transfer, Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) and the provision of IPTV services.