An electrical fire ripped through the Ramses Central Exchange, Egypt’s largest telecommunications hub, on Monday morning, injuring 14 workers and knocking out phone and internet connections across the Greater Cairo area. Health Ministry officials said the injured were rushed to a nearby hospital and are in stable condition.
Fire crews battled heavy smoke inside the 13-story building near Ramses Square and declared the blaze contained after several hours. Cooling operations are continuing “to ensure the fire will not reignite,” according to the state-run MENA news agency. Preliminary findings point to an electrical short circuit, though forensic teams will inspect the site to confirm the exact cause.
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The Ramses exchange, built in the 1980s, serves millions of landline and mobile customers and funnels traffic for major internet service providers. Egypt’s National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority said engineers are assessing damage to switching equipment and fiber-optic cables while technicians reroute traffic to backup nodes. Partial service has already been restored, and full connectivity is expected “in phases over the coming hours.”
Internet monitoring groups recorded a sharp drop in Cairo traffic shortly after the fire broke out, underscoring the city’s dependence on a handful of aging exchanges. In 2021, the government announced a multibillion-pound plan to modernize Egypt’s telecom infrastructure, but much of the work remains unfinished.
Monday’s incident sparked renewed calls for faster upgrades and stricter safety standards at critical facilities. As Egypt pushes toward a national digital-transformation strategy, officials face growing pressure to protect the backbone that keeps 22 million residents—and the country’s economy—online.