Tunisian MNOs expecting 5G licences in 2021

Syndey, Feb. 13, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Just released, this edition of Paul Budde Communication’s focus report on Tunisia outlines the major developments and key aspects in the telecoms markets.

Tunisia has one of the most sophisticated telecommunications and broadband infrastructures in North Africa. Penetration rates for mobile and internet services are s among the highest in the region. Stimulated by the Digital Tunisia 2020 program, a number of regulatory measures and infrastructure projects have been instituted aimed at improving internet connectivity to underserved areas. These in initiatives will also see the auction of spectrum in the 800MHz band for IoT and mobile services. For its part the incumbent telco Tunisie Telecom has invested in its LTE network as well as vectoring VDSL and fibre infrastructure. The company is also in the process of migrating internet traffic to its new Broadband Network Gateway (BNG) platform.

The events of the ‘Arab Spring’ revolution in 2011 drove the country into a brief recession, but GDP growth soon returned to pre-crisis levels. This encouraged growing confidence in economic recovery, though GDP growth has been modest. Political difficulties in recent years have also had an impact on the telecom sector.

Ooredoo and Orange Tunisie are also licensed as fixed-line operators and have launched DSL and Fibre-to-the-Premises (FttP) services. In addition, a dozen public and private ISPs compete in this sector, supported by a nationwide fibre optic backbone network and international access via submarine and terrestrial fibre.

A reform of the country’s Telecommunications Act was initiated in 2013 and government internet censorship was officially abolished. In addition, laws supporting e-commerce and digital signatures have been passed, which has led to one of the most active e-government and e-commerce sectors in Africa.

Key developments:

• Tunisia adopts UNESCO’s Internet Universality Indicators (UIUs); signs MoU with India to promote ICTs
• Tunisie Telecom signs three-year partnership with Vodafone Group, contracts Huawei to develop an LTE network;
• 5G licences expected to be issued in 2021;
• Mobile money interoperability becomes available across the three mobile networks;
• Ooredoo Tunisia launches Tunisia's first NB-IoT network;
• Watany Telecom licensed as Tunisia's second MVNO;
• Tunisie Telecom delivers FttC with VDSL vectoring, completes G.fast trials;
• Report updates include the regulator's market data to January 2019, telcos' financial and operating data to Q4 2018, Telecom Maturity Index charts and analyses, recent market developments.

Companies mentioned in this report:

Tunisie Telecom (Tunicell), Orange Tunisie, Ooredoo (Tunisiana, Orascom, Wataniya, Qatar Telecom/Qtel), Planet Tunisie, 3S GlobalNet, HexaByte, Tunet, Topnet, Divona Telecom, Thuraya, Nokia Networks, Huawei Technologies, ZTE, Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson.

Table of Contents

• Key statistics
• Country overview
• Telecommunications market
  • Market analysis
• Regional Africa Market Comparison
  • TMI vs GDP
  • Mobile and mobile broadband
  • Fixed and mobile broadband
• Regulatory environment
  • Historical overview
  • Telecommunications Act 2001
    • Amendments – 2008
    • Reform – 2013
    • Developments - 2014
  • Regulatory authorities
    • INT
    • ONT
  • Telecom sector liberalisation
  • Number Portability (NP)
• Fixed network operators
  • Tunisie Telecom (TT)
    • Privatisation
  • Orange Tunisie
  • Ooredoo Tunisie (Tunisiana)
• Telecommunications infrastructure
  • Overview of the national telecom network
  • VoIP
  • International infrastructure
    • Submarine fibre
    • Terrestrial
    • Satellite
  • Cloud services
  • Smart infrastructure
• Fixed-line broadband market
  • Introduction and statistical overview
  • Broadband statistics
  • Public Internet access locations
  • Agence Tunisienne d’Internet (ATI)
  • Fixed-line broadband technologies
    • Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) networks
    • VDSL
    • G.fast
    • Fibre-to-the-Premises (FttP) networks
    • Other fixed broadband services
• Digital Economy
  • E-commerce
  • E-learning
  • E-government
• Mobile market
  • Market analysis
  • Mobile statistics
  • Mobile data
    • SMS, MMS
  • Mobile broadband
  • Regulatory issues
    • Network sharing
    • Mobile Number Portability (MNP)
    • LTE spectrum
    • 800MHz spectrum auction
    • OTT applications
    • Roaming
  • Mobile Infrastructure
    • 5G
    • 4G (LTE)
    • 3G
    • GSM-R
    • Other infrastructure developments
  • IoT and M2M networks
  • Major mobile operators
    • Tunicell (Tunisie Telecom)
    • Ooredoo (Tunisiana)
    • Orange Tunisie
    • Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs)
  • Mobile content and applications
    • M-money
• Related reports

List of Tables

• Table 1 – Top Level Country Statistics and Telco Authorities - Tunisia – 2018
• Table 2 – Telecom sector revenue in Tunisia – 2016- 2018
• Table 3 – Telecom sector revenue by major operator – 2016- 2018
• Table 4 – Telecom sector revenue by sector – 2016- 2018
• Table 5 – Historic - Fixed lines in service and teledensity in Tunisia – 1995 - 2009
• Table 6 – Fixed lines in service and teledensity in Tunisia – 2010 - 2019
• Table 7 – Fixed line household penetration – 2017 - 2019
• Table 8 – Fixed-line subscribers by operator – 2009 – 2019
• Table 9 – Fixed-line market share by operator – 2009 - 2019
• Table 10 – VoIP lines in service in Tunisia – 2013 – 2019
• Table 11 –International internet bandwidth in Tunisia – 2006 – 2018
• Table 12 – Proportion of fixed-line broadband connections: lower data speed – 2014 - 2019
• Table 13 – Proportion of fixed-line broadband connections: higher data speed – 2014 - 2019
• Table 14 – Historic - Internet users and penetration rate in Tunisia – 1999 - 2009
• Table 15 – Internet users and penetration rate in Tunisia – 2010 - 2018
• Table 16 – Fixed-line broadband subscribers – 2002 - 2019
• Table 17 – PC household penetration – 1999 - 2017
• Table 18 – Public internet kiosks – 2015 - 2019
• Table 19 – DSL subscribers in Tunisia – 2002 - 2019
• Table 20 – ADSL markets share by operator – 2013 - 2019
• Table 21 –DSL subscribers by operator – 2013 - 2019
• Table 22 – FttP/B subscribers – 2008 - 2019
• Table 23 – Satellite internet subscribers – 2015 - 2019
• Table 24 – Historic - Mobile subscribers and penetration rate in Tunisia – 1995 - 2009
• Table 25 – Mobile subscribers and penetration rate in Tunisia – 2010 - 2019
• Table 26 – Mobile prepaid and contract subscribers – 2014 - 2019
• Table 27 – Mobile market share of subscribers by operator – 2009 - 2019
• Table 28 – Dedicated mobile broadband subscribers (3G/LTE with key) – 2010 - 2019
• Table 29 – Dedicated mobile broadband subscribers by operator – 2013 - 2019
• Table 30 – Mobile broadband market share by operator (3G/LTE) – 2013 - 2019
• Table 31 – Standard 3G/LTE mobile internet subscribers and penetration – 2013 - 2019
• Table 32 –3G/LTE mobile internet subscribers by operator – 2014 - 2019
• Table 33 – Mobile data traffic by device type (TB) – 2015 - 2019
• Table 34 – Annual mobile numbers ported – 2016 - 2019
• Table 35 – M2M connections – 2015 - 2019
• Table 36 – Tunisie Telecom mobile subscribers – 2010 - 2019
• Table 37 – Ooredoo Tunisia blended monthly ARPU (QR) – 2010 - 2018
• Table 38 – Ooredoo Tunisia revenue and EBITDA – 2010 - 2018
• Table 39 – Ooredoo Tunisia mobile subscribers – 2002 - 2018
• Table 40 – Orange Tunisie mobile subscribers – 2010 - 2019
• Table 41 – Lycamobile Tunisie mobile subscribers – 2015 - 2019

List of Charts

• Chart 1 – Telecom sector revenue by sector – 2016- 2018
• Chart 2 – Overall Africa view - Telecoms Maturity Index vs GDP per Capita – 2018
• Chart 3 – North Africa - Telecoms Maturity Index vs GDP per Capita – 2018
• Chart 4 – Africa – Top-tier Telecoms Maturity Index (Market Leaders) – 2018
• Chart 5 – North Africa –Telecoms Maturity Index by country – 2018
• Chart 6 – North Africa mobile subscriber penetration versus mobile broadband penetration – 2018
• Chart 7 – North Africa fixed and mobile penetration rates – 2018
• Chart 8 – Fixed lines in service and teledensity in Tunisia – 2005 – 2019
• Chart 9 – Fixed-line subscribers by operator – 2009 – 2019
• Chart 10 – Fixed-line market share by operator – 2009 - 2019
• Chart 11 – Fixed-line broadband subscribers – 2002 - 2019
• Chart 12 – Mobile subscribers and penetration rate in Tunisia – 2005 - 2019
• Chart 13 – Mobile prepaid and contract subscribers – 2014 – 2019
• Chart 14 – Mobile market share of subscribers by operator – 2009 – 2019
• Chart 15 – Ooredoo Tunisia financial data – 2010 – 2018
• Chart 16 – Ooredoo Tunisia mobile subscribers – 2002 - 2018

List of Exhibits

• Exhibit 1 – Map of Tunisia
• Exhibit 2 – Generalised Market Characteristics by Market Segment
• Exhibit 3 – North Africa - Key Characteristics of Telecoms Markets by Country

Nicolas Bombourg
nbombourg@budde.com.au

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(02) 8076 7665

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