Sources for the New York Times speculated that the Egyptian government was behind the shutdown as it prepares for protests on January 25, which will mark the fifth anniversary of the Egyptian uprising which toppled the Mubarak regime. An unnamed source for Reuters from Egypt's Telecommunications Ministry said that the Egyptian telecom provider Etisalat had only been granted a permit to offer the service for two months and that the permit expired on Wednesday. The official further clarified that the shutdown was not related to security concerns.

Etisalat has yet to make an official statement, although they said they would release a statement on Thursday. At the time of publication, Etisalat had not responded to Motherboard's request for comment. Meanwhile, Facebook told the Associated Pressthat it "hopes to resolve the issue soon," and that it was "disappointed that Free Basics will no longer be available in Egypt."