Vodafone Egypt’s newly appointed CEO has laid out an ambitious investment strategy for its network, according to Reuters.

Ahmed Essam (pictured) said the operator will invest approximately EGP9.5 billion ($1.3 billion) over the next three years on its infrastructure.

The operator will pay for the plan through existing funds, said the CEO, who took up his position this month.

Vodafone is the country’s largest mobile operator with 43 million mobile connections (GSMA Intelligence, Q2 2014), ahead of rivals Mobinil and Etisalat.

Vodafone Egypt is 45 per cent owned by fixed incumbent Telecom Egypt, which earlier this year was given a green light to acquire a unified licence for EGP2.5 billion.

The licence allows the incumbent to offer mobile services using other operator networks.

In return, the country’s mobile operators have the option to pay EGP100 million to make use of Telecom Egypt’s fixed network.

Vodafone Egypt has not decided whether or not to take up this opportunity, said Essam.

The fixed incumbent has been given a one-year deadline to sell its stake in Vodafone Egypt once the unified licence is activated.