Older residents of Cairo remember the days of the party or shared line. Ring, ring. Both parties to the line – there were at least two – would race to the phone. If you got there second, the next door flat with whom the telephone was shared would ting the receiver to alert you to the fact that the call was for you.

And then there were international phone lines. Or rather there were not. Waiting lists ran into years, and the lucky recipient would have to leave a large deposit.