The major fire that broke out in the Central Exchange building in downtown Cairo on July 7th led to the disruption of telecommunications and internet services, the suspension of trading on the Egyptian Stock Exchange, and disruption of some financial services. All instant payment application were also disrupted, writes Ahmad Abdel-Rahman.
The incident of a major fire breaking out in the Central Exchange building in downtown Cairo on July 7th demonstrates the importance of the Ramses Central Exchange building in downtown Cairo. It was inaugurated nearly 98 years ago by King Fouad I, who made the first phone call from the exchange in May 1927.
Following the fire, the Egyptian Stock Exchange suspended trading, and the fire disrupted the activities and services of all banks, as well as the suspension of instan payment services and applications that promote financial inclusion. Cairo International Airport also experienced disruptions in the scheduling of some flights, while the Egyptian Railway Authority apologised for the inability of a large number of train users to book flights.
Following the outbreak of the fire at the Ramses Exchange, civil defence forces were forced to cut off power to the entire exchange because of the fire. The incident prompted Egypt's Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Amr Talaat, to cut short his official visit abroad and return to Cairo to follow up on developments.
The Egyptian minister denied that his country relied solely on the Ramses exchange as its main communications service centre, stating that the Ramses exchange would remain out of service for several days. About a week after the fire, internet services gradually resumed after all services at the Ramses exchange were transferred to more than one exchange.
As part of the ongoing follow-up to the Ramses exchange fire, the Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC), affiliated with the Egyptian Cabinet, said the exchange is one of the most important communications and internet centres in Egypt. Major telecommunications companies use the Ramses exchange to route calls and connect internet locally and internationally.
The exchange handles approximately 40 percent of Egypt's local and international communications traffic via landlines and fibre optics, and contains a primary core switch for call forwarding and connecting global networks.
The Ramses Exchange is the focal point of Egypt's fixed-line telephone network, connecting Greater Cairo's network to the various regional networks and representing the centre of the digital switching system and international circuits. The Ramses Exchange houses a large number of main digital exchanges used to switch calls and connect them to global networks.
The exchange also contains one of the largest interconnection rooms in Egypt, used by a number of private telecommunications companies, such as Vodafone, Orange, and Etisalat. These rooms serve as the infrastructure that enables these companies to pass their data across the national network or through it to international networks. Several regional and international fibre optic cables pass through the exchange. It represents the arteries of Egypt’s internet, making it of strategic importance in securing and stabilising service, especially during times of stress or disaster.
Commenting on the incident, Walid Hagag, an information security specialist and advisor to the Supreme Authority for Information Technology and Cybersecurity, said that digital isolation has become a threat to the daily lives of every individual in society.
Cairo and several governorates have witnessed a noticeable number of outages in internet services and telecommunications networks over the past few days, raising eyebrows and eliciting questions from many citizens. In this instance, the cause of the recent outage was purely technical, stemming from a massive fire in the Ramses Central building, one of the most important control centres for the Egyptian telecommunications network.
However, the result was the same: a paralysis that affected daily and commercial life, sparking anxiety and confusion, reminding Egyptians of the extent of their dependence on telecommunications networks for every aspect of their lives.
Hagag warned of the danger of relying on a single centre to provide services without having alternative plans. He stated that the outage at just one central exchange could lead to widespread paralysis of a number of digital services. It would impact services such as e-wallets and instant transfer applications like InstaPay.
To ensure these crises do not recur, Hagag called for implementing three basic pillars of business continuity. First, there should be a backup plan, which includes implementing periodic backups of critical systems (customer data, billing, network management) and periodically testing the validity of these backups.
Second, a backup site for disaster recovery should be established. It would provide an alternative site with similar infrastructure that can immediately take over in the event of a disaster such as a fire, power outage, or cyberattack.
Third, relying on more than one internet service provider is a good idea. It would duplicate essential devices and equipment, and could provide alternative energy sources and generators.