In Tunisia, telecommunication and their infrastructures are widely developed. Tunisia possesses a buoyant market for telecommunications products and services. Penetration rates for fixed and mobile phones reached 138.3% in 2019.  With over 14.8 million mobile lines already, Tunisia enjoys one of the highest mobile phone subscriber rates in Africa.  In 2019, there were about 10.3 million internet subscribers, 87% of them (9 million) subscribed through their smartphones. Tunisia meets its WTO telecom service sector commitments and provides full market access and national treatment for foreign telecom service providers.  The cellular market opened to foreign competition in the early 2000; however, no U.S. carrier has actively sought cellular network licenses from the GOT.

Mobile and Fixed Telecommunication Networks

Tunisia’s mobile services market continues to expand, although at a somewhat slower pace than in previous years.  The playing field for foreign companies operating in Tunisia remains fair, with no evident competitive advantage for the state-owned telecom company, Tunisie Telecom.  Four major operators control the mobile services market.  Tunisia’s largest telecom company is Ooredoo (Orascom Telecom Tunisia).  In 2019, Ooredoo had 42.7% of the market, Tunisie Telecom 30.5%, Orange Tunisie 25.1%, and Lycamobile 1.7%.

Internet

Stimulated by the Digital Tunisia 2020 program, a five-year national ICT development plan from 2016 to 2020, a number of regulatory measures and infrastructure projects have been undertaken in order to improve internet connectivity all over Tunisia.

Tunisie Telecom is Tunisia’s leading provider of international internet connectivity.  The company manages three sub-sea cables; one of them, a 112-mile fiber-optic cable, is owned and operated by Tunisie Telecom and connects the city of Kelibia in Tunisia with the Italian city of Mazara.  In 2014, private telecom operators Ooredoo and Orange Tunisie started operating their own sub-sea cable.  These two cables are considered among the most important telecommunications connections in the Mediterranean and ensure the country’s digital independence.  Not only did the cables augment Tunisia’s international internet bandwidth capacity to 780 gigabytes per second in 2019, but they also enhanced Tunisia’s IT connection and broadband capacity sufficiently to enable the delivery of high-speed internet service elsewhere in Africa.  This makes Tunisia a strong potential regional IT hub. In 2009, Tunisia awarded the first third generation (3G) mobile license to Orange Tunisie, followed by Tunisie Telecom in 2010 and Ooredoo in 2012.  In March 2016, the Ministry of Communication Technologies and Digital Economy awarded a 4G license to all three operators for a total amount of 471 million dinars ($235 million).

In December 2017, the GOT awarded the first license for an IT infrastructure operator to the consortium Level 4, which was formed by the state-run Tunisian Internet Agency, EO Datacenter (Tunisian data center company), and Iskaya (Turkish telecommunication service provider).  The Level 4 license provides telecom operators and internet service providers (ISPs) high-speed broadband infrastructure.

In 2019, Tunisia’s Ministry of Communication Technologies and Digital Transformation announced that Tunisia will launch fifth generation (5G) services no later than 2021.   Because the introduction of 5G would require additional infrastructure investment, the National Telecommunication Authority (INTT) awarded a contract to an international consultancy to conduct a feasibility study on the social and economic impact of 5G technology.  The study is expected to be completed by the end of 2020.

Cloud

The GOT has begun developing a nationwide private cloud to progressively establish an e-government network with the purpose of improving information sharing among ministries.  Moreover, Tunisia is working on establishing a digital identity platform for individuals and businesses to ensure reliable interactions with government agencies.  In a joint venture, Microsoft and Cisco provided a cloud platform for the GOT in March 2019.  

Through its four telecom licenses for fixed lines and the availability of 3G and 4G mobile phone technology, Tunisia has made a progress toward high-speed mobile internet and high-capacity data transmission, creating opportunities for U.S. technology sales.  Chinese companies such as Huawei bid aggressively on telecommunications tenders.  Siemens, Alcatel, and Ericsson are the major European competitors in the sector.

Web Resources

• Ministry of Communication Technologies and Digital Transformation mincom.tn 
• National Telecom Authority intt.tn
• National Internet Agency (ATI) ati.tn
• Tunisian Postal Service poste.tn
• Foreign Investment Promotion Agency (FIP Telecommunication in Tunisia and their infrastructures are widely developed A) investintunisia.tn

Telecommunications in Tunisia includes telephones (fixed and mobile), radio, television, and the Internet. The Ministry of Communication Technologies, a cabinet-level governmental agency, is in charge of organizing the sector.

At the same time, Tunisia has undertaken to open up this sector to competition in application of its commitments to the General Agreement on Trade in Services and in preparation for the negotiations underway at the WTO. In this context, several important actions have been taken to update the regulatory framework. The incumbent operator, Tunisie Telecom, remained for a long time the sole supplier of most basic services, notably fixed telephony. Three operators also share the mobile telephony market: Tunisie Telecom, Ooredoo - which has acquired its license for 680 million dinars - and Orange Tunisie.

In March 2016, the three operators began marketing 4G, used mainly for Internet connection. The Tunisian Internet Agency manages the web network at the national level and the national top level domain: .tn. In addition, electronic commerce is virtually non-existent, in particular due to a problem of secure online payment methods, just like IP telephony.

In aspects of new technology, the country is also trying to develop the new technology sector. The El Ghazala hub, in the suburbs of Tunis, already hosts some heavyweights in the sector (Alcatel, Ericsson or STMicroelectronics) convinced of the competitiveness of Tunisian engineers. Indeed, for equal skills, their salary is half that of a French engineer. Exports of call center services are also experiencing significant development: there are currently more than seven centers with foreign participation, six of which are fully exporters, employing a total of over 1,100 people. Technical factors specific to Tunisia include the high number of qualified agents, mastery of the French language and the competitive cost of its workforce compared to that of competing countries.

With Televisions, the country has:

• Broadcast radio stations: seven AM radios, twenty FM radios and two shortwave radios (1998)
• TV broadcasting stations: 26 TV stations and 76 rebroadcasting stations (1995).
• In 1997, there were 2.06 million radios and 920,000 television sets.

Telecommunication Regulations

Should be available in who wants to get License for a virtual network operator Telecom following conditions:

• Be Tunisian citizen 
• Capital of not less than one hundred and fifty (150 ) thousand dinars owned Nominally and by a majority of Tunisians ,
• Moral Tunisian nationality and that of the holders of a higher education Or equivalent certificate or a certificate of formation of the mentioned level view In the areas of media , communications, multimedia ,
• Moral pure criminal record and not be in conflict with the state
• Terms of practicing business in accordance with the legislation in force , Not be a recipe public network operator Telecom or his Direct contribution to the capital of a public network operator Telecom
• Obtained a license in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 19 of the Journal of Communication ,
• Not to be a public network operator Telecom Laureate . Leave in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 19 of the Journal of Communication contribution Directly or indirectly, in the capital or in the capital of a Its shareholders .

The payment as follows:

• An amount of fifty thousand dinars ( 50 000 d) paid one time once you get the license ,
• annual pay calculated by the ministry

According to the Article 2, the dashes from 19 to 27 are added by article 2 of law n ° 2008-1 of January 8, 2008 and the dashes from 28 to 33 are added by article 2 of law n ° 2013-10 of 12 April 2013).

For the purposes of this code, the following terms are understood to mean:

• Telecommunications: any method of transmitting, broadcasting or receiving signals by means of metallic, optical or radioelectric media;
• Radio frequencies: the frequencies of electromagnetic waves used in telecommunications in accordance with international rules in force;
• Scarce resources: radio frequencies, numbering and addressing;
• Telecommunications network: all the equipment and systems providing telecommunications;
• Public telecommunications network: the telecommunications network open to the public;
• Private telecommunications network: telecommunications network reserved for private use or for use by a closed group of users for special purposes within the framework of the common interest;
• Telecommunications network operator: any legal person holding a "license" for the operation of a public telecommunications network;
• "license": privilege offered to a legal person under an agreement for the installation and operation of a public telecommunications network;
• Interconnection: connection of two or more public telecommunications networks;
• Telecommunications service: any service providing telecommunications between two or more users;
• "Universal services" telecommunications: minimum telecommunications services to be provided to the public according to technological developments in the field;
• Television broadcasting services: telecommunications services ensuring the transmission and broadcasting of radio and television programs by means of radio frequencies;

Existing Humanitarian Telecoms Systems