The official did not give details on the terms of the licences.

Egypt is selling four 4G licences as part of a long-awaited plan to reform the telecoms sector and raise money for stretched government finances.

The country's three existing mobile phone operators - Orange, Vodafone and Etisalat - initially all turned down the 4G licences saying the amount of spectrum on offer was not sufficient to allow them to offer the service efficiently.

(Reporting by Ehab Farouk; Writing by Asma Alsharif; Editing by Mark Potter)