Ahram Online zooms in on the details of the long-awaited project:

• The Unified National Network for Emergency and Public Safety (NAS) will be accessible through dialing 112 hotline. The all-in-one service is intended to replace the current multiple emergencies helplines.
• The network aims to provide a speedy response to emergency calls nationwide, a service that is similar to the 911 emergency hotline in the US.
• Services that will be available through the helpline include police, ambulance, and other rescue and support.
• People will be able to dial the number in case of emergencies like road accidents, fire in the home, severe health crises, a security issue.
• Emergency calls will be referred to the concerned bodies and tracked by the network's main control centre.
• The network provides secure communication services to 2,187 sites divided into nine districts
• Greater Cairo will be covered by 537 sites, while 78 sites will cover New Cairo.
• The network seeks to link control stations to emergency responders and vital installations such as electricity, water, gas, internet services and Global Positioning System (GPS).
• A 31,300 kilometre fiber optic network is responsible for connecting the network nationwide.
• In addition to this, an optical transport network (OTN) technology was introduced as a messaging system that provides super-capable data transmission capacities/speeds at a total financial cost of $1 billion dollars as per the Egyptian Presidency.
• Plus, all of Egypt’s civil mobile phone networks as well as the national network in the New Administrative Capital have been connected to the network’s fibre optic cables using what is known as a “front haul” system to minimise cost and land use.
• The network currently covers six governorates, including Port Said, Ismailia, Suez, Luxor, Aswan and South Sinai where the 27th session of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP27) is set to be held in the Red Sea city of Sharm El-Sheikh 6-18 November.
• The service is expected to be rolled out in all the country's 27 governorates soon.
• The centre is considered one of the most modern and biggest systems of its kind in the Middle East.
• The centre is operated 24/7 in two shifts.
• The emergency network project is set to be finalised within four months, according to the president.