This is a best prospect industry sector for this country. Includes a market overview and trade data.
Last Published: 7/14/2019

Overview

Following international trends, Tunisia possesses a buoyant market for telecommunications products and services.  Penetration rates for fixed and mobile phones reached a tele-density of 138.8% in 2018.  With over 14.8 million mobile lines already, Tunisia enjoys one of the highest mobile phone subscriber rates in Africa.  In 2018, there were about 9.8 million internet subscribers, 81% of them (8 million) subscribed through their smartphones.  The number of mobile internet users is expected to increase further.    

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 2000s; however, no U.S. carrier has actively sought cellular network licenses from the GOT.  Significant business opportunities exist in the telecom sector, particularly with the expansion of call centers.

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 companies.  Four major operators control the mobile services market.  Tunisia’s largest telecom company is Ooredoo (Orascom Telecom Tunisia).  In 2017, Ooredoo had 39.7% of the market, Tunisie Telecom had 30.5%, Orange Tunisie had 26%, and Lycamobile 3.8%.

Following the country’s 2011 revolution, the government froze the assets of many former regime members and nationalized their shares in companies.  This included shares of Ooredoo and Orange Tunisie.  In a consortium with Zitouna Telecom, Qatar Telecom bought a portion of these nationalized Ooredoo shares through its subsidiary Wataniya in 2012, bringing its total shares in Ooredoo to 90%.  At that time, the Ministry of Finance announced that the government’s remaining 10% would be sold on the Tunis stock exchange.  This public sale, however, has yet to take place.  Meanwhile, the company continues to operate profitably. 

French-Tunisian consortium Orange-Divona Tunisie’s majority shareholdings in Orange Tunisie, whose capital is 51% Tunisian and 49% French (via France Telecom), were similarly nationalized in 2011.  The company has been managed by a public administrator since being taken over by the government.  Service to its customers, however, continues uninterrupted. 

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 430 gigabytes per second in 2018, 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.

Leading Sub-Sectors

All sub-sectors of the telecommunication industry are expanding, and there are opportunities for U.S. companies.  In recent years, U.S. firms have been successful in fields such as fiber optics and wireless local loop systems.

Opportunities

Call centers represent a new and rapidly expanding service industry in Tunisia.  The country’s communications infrastructure, coupled with skilled, bilingual and multilingual human resources, provides strong support for this industry.  As of 2017, more than 350 call centers were in operation, employing 22,000 people.  They serve primarily French-speaking clients, although some serve the Italian market.  At least one operates in English, serving the UK health sector.  A few U.S. companies, such as Convergys, operate call centers in Tunisia, primarily to serve European customers.

Business opportunities exist as Tunisia implements its ambitious digital plan, which aims to increase household fixed internet access from 44.5% currently to 60% by 2020.  The  plan also seeks to improve Tunisia’s Network Readiness Index (NRI) ranking from 4th in Africa and 8th in the Arab World to 1st and 4th, respectively, by 2020.

Through its four telecom licenses for fixed lines and the availability of 3G and 4G mobile phone technology, Tunisia has made a firm step toward access to high-speed mobile internet and high-capacity data transmission,  creating opportunities for U.S. technology sales.  Chinese companies such as Huawei and ZTE 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 Economy 
National Telecom Authority
National Internet Agency (ATI)
Tunisian Postal Service
Foreign Investment Promotion Agency (FIPA)
Tunisian Industry [government site]
 

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