The monopolistic Vsat and Wimax provider Divona Telecom has officially changed its corporate name to orange Tunisia after winning a bid to provide exclusive 2G and 3G cell services becoming in the same time part of the French Telecom group with less than 50% shares as stipulated by the the Tunisian regulations.

The move was expected as part of the new marketing strategy of the company to introduce a well know brand rather than using an old Vsat and Wimax provider barely know or even creating a new brand from the mix.

Ornage France has many exclusive contracts allowing to distribute Black berry and Iphone a growing trends in the telecoms markets with the lack of support from Tunisia telecom and the inability of Tunisiana to market any phones locally other than the HTC.

Months ago, Divona did merge with its little sister compagny Planet a major Tunisian ISP with hundreds of sales shops and hundreds of technical support all over the country, Ornage Tunise will certainly benefit from this asset making it easier to distribute their goods in no time.

Divona telecom has also build a solid structure of Wimax with mostly 60% coverge in the tunisiana territory thus adding GSM repeaters on the Wimax tours already available would be an other benefit to spred its cellular coverge in a couple of months, already outsourced to Huwawei the Chinese telecommunication company doing business in Tunisia and other European partners as Satec.

Via [Tn Geeks]

A Tunisiana insider has reported trusty that Tunisiana has raised all the GSN engineer by 25% and gave them an exceptional bonus of 30,000 TND n made them sign a closed contract for 5 years.

The company seems preventing and overprotecting its brilliant staff from moving -if offered better salaries- to the next concurrent (Divona / orange Telecom).

The last news from Divona bakery were talking about French staff that will integrate the actual team for the GSM platform.

Affluence record at the Business Forum of the ATUGA on Thursday 16 July. Obviously with 1000 vacancies posted, the enthusiasm of young graduates was expected. This interest is fueled this year by the arrival of the 3rd telecom operator Orange Tunisia. Not surprisingly, the stand designed by Divona recruitment was from the beginning, taken by storm. Hundreds of young people came to inquire, submit a resume or complete an application form carefully developed.

Many animation on the other stands including Tunisia Telecom, Tunisiana, Talan, Telnet, Oxia, HR Access, and others. On many stands, the bosses themselves were to host the candidates and listen to them. "It's impressive," says a young engineer at Leaders! Imagine that I was received at Mr. Mehdi Talan Houas, smiling, courteous and attentive. Only at the end of the interview I knew it was the CEO! "

Source [Leaders]

The surprising fact about this, is that there no was no media buzz around like if Divona / Ornage has tried to hide the event or to make very close to a certain people.

Tunis, July 13, 2009- A recent report by Pyramid Research dubbed “Communications Market in Tunisia”, says that Tunisia’s telecom market is set to become one of the fastest growing in the Africa Middle East market with total revenues estimated at 2,2 billion dollars by 2014 on the basis of a growth average of some 5,4% over the next five years.

The 24 page report provides an accurate analysis of Tunisia telecom sector: fixed and mobile sectors, WiMax, IPVT, and VoIP. It also provides an analysis of key trends, short term opportunities and risk factors.

The author of the report Sylvia Boguszweska, writes that event though Tunisia’s mobile and fixed penetration were among the highest in the region in 2008 with 82,1 % and 11,5% respectively, the low broadband penetration rate of some 2,2% shows a strong potential for growth.

“Although the market will contract in 2009, it will bounce back with broadband being the fastest growing among other significant market segments. Broadband services will be a considerable source of growth over the next five years with an annual growth of 15,1% between 2009 and 2014, producing an estimated revenue of 174 million dollars in 2014 up from 81 million dollars in 2008”, says the author of the report.

In June 2009, a consortium made up of France Telecom and Divona /Orange was awarded the third mobile license in Tunisia. The license covers both regular GSM services and 3G, as well as landline services.

The French consortium who made an offer of some 257,251 million dinars (137,647 million Euros), won the bid after being in competition with Turkey’s Turkcell.

There are currently two mobile telephone operators in the country, “Tunisie Telecom” and Orascom’s “Tunisiana”. In 2006, Tunisia Telecom opened up 35% of its capital to Dubai’s Tecom-DIG for some 1,8 billion Euros

Source [Tunisia Online News]

Divona the new 3rd phone carrier, seemingly ready few days after the announcement, has already started leasing tactical rooftops in Tunis in order to prepare the implementation of its towers in an effort to get the system ready by the end of the year.

The Divona / Orange - France Telecom group is retained as a tenderer offering the best technology in the process of granting a license for a new telecommunications operator.
What will happen now? Who is France Telecom and its partner is Divona Tunisian who has 51% stake in the new entity they create together?

Groupement Divona / Orange - France Telecom is retained as a tenderer offering the best technology in the process of granting a license for a new telecommunications operator.
It is worth noting that the ministry of communication technologies has almost complied with the schedule, reflecting the superb professionalism of government in the management of major operations. It was the same in the award of the GSM license to Orascom and the opening of the capital of Tunisie Telecom.

Pursuant to the provisions of Decree No. 2009-283 of 2 February 2009 laying down the conditions and procedures for the granting of a license to install and operate a public telecommunications network for the provision of telecommunications services fixed and mobile telecommunications services from 2nd and 3rd generation, the Ministry of Communication Technologies announces the following:

-The commission established by the decree above mentioned report has concluded its evaluation of tenders received in the framework of the international tender for the granting of a license to a new operator of fixed and mobile telecommunications 2G/3G .
-This process has enabled the Group to retain DIVONA / ORANGE - France Telecom, as a bidder who submitted the best technical offer.

This assignment is tentative pending the completion of the conditions contained in the Rules of procedures of the international tender.
The entry into service of a new telecommunications operator aims to contribute to the revitalization of the landscape of the telecommunications sector (fixed, broadband internet and mobile), promotion of investment and employment as well as 'in support of the business climate in Tunisia.

France Telecom is the first telecommunications operator in France and a major player in the world. The France Telecom Group is the leading provider of broadband Internet access and the third mobile operator in Europe and among the world leaders in telecommunications services to multinational companies. It offers its customers, individuals, businesses and other telecommunications operators a full range of telecommunications services. Its main activities include the provision of fixed and mobile telecommunications (local, national and international), Internet services and multimedia communication services, sales and rentals of equipment, information services and other value-added services. Orange is the Group's single brand for Internet, television and mobile in most countries where it operates, and Orange Business Services brand of services to companies worldwide.
At 31 December 2008, France Telecom serves 182.3 million customers worldwide and 13 million ADSL subscribers.

As for Divona Telecom Tunisia is the first VSAT operator in Tunisia. It is also the only telecommunications operator in Tunisia, whose capital is owned 100% by Tunisians.
Present in the telecommunications sector in Tunisia for more than twelve years, through its parent Planet Divona managed to grow rapidly at the head of the sector.
Planet, for its part, have for a dozen years in the country, it is now a leader in the internet for businesses with more than 100,000 customers.
Both entities are run by Mohamed Garbouj and belong to Marouen of Investec Mabrouk (not Mabrouk Group).

Now that the group is chosen for its best technical offer, both parties will need to create and implement a Tunisian law firm of which 51% (at least) are held by Investec.
This should, in theory, marketing its new fixed and mobile services in six months. These services include:
Fixed:
• telephone service domestic and international, including IP telephony;
• access services to the Internet;
• data transmission services;
• transport services signals in accordance with the applicable legislation;
• Wholesale services (wholesale), including without limitation, leasing capacity and wholesale traffic.

Mobile:
• mobile telephone service, national and international levels;
• Messaging Services SMS and MMS;
• data services including video telephony, mobile Internet, multimedia messaging and multimedia content with mobile broadband;
• services wholesale traffic operators and providers of telecommunications services authorized in accordance with laws and regulations in force.

The License granted to Divona / France Telecom offers also several advantages, among which we include access to existing infrastructure to build its network, obtaining resources frequencies, numbering in codes and international interconnection, provision telephony services over IP, national and international roaming, the provision of number portability so.

The license granted to Divona / France Telecom is valid for a period of 15 years with possibility of extension, at the request of the holder, for additional periods not exceeding ten years each.
In addition, and to promote the dynamics of competition and support the introduction of the new entrant, the Tunisian State has committed to attributing any license additional fixed until at least 1st January 2013.
It will not, either, of 3G licenses to other operators about a year before in order to initiate the conditions of homelessness and use optimum and common infrastructure for fixed and mobile telecommunications.

Source [Business News]

It's now official. This is the group DIVONA / ORANGE France Telecom which is retained as a tenderer offering the best technology in the process of granting a license for a new telecommunications operator, said a communiqué of the Ministry of Technology Communication.

''In accordance with decree No. 2009-283 of 2 February 2009 laying down the conditions and procedures for the granting of a license to install and operate a public telecommunications network for the provision of services fixed telecommunications and mobile telecommunications services in 2nd and 3rd generation, the Ministry of Communication Technologies announces the following:

-The commission established by the decree above mentioned report has concluded its evaluation of tenders received in the framework of the international tender for the granting of a license to a new operator of fixed and mobile telecommunications 2G/3G .
-This process has enabled the Group to retain DIVONA / ORANGE - France Telecom, as a bidder who submitted the best technical offer. This assignment is tentative pending the completion of the conditions contained in the Rules of procedures of the international tender.

The entry into service of a new telecommunications operator aims to contribute to the revitalization of the landscape of the telecommunications sector (fixed, broadband internet and mobile), promotion of investment and employment as well as 'in support of the business climate in Tunisia.''

Source [WebManager center]

For the latest news, the process of opening a third telecom license in Tunisia, and continues serenely on time. This process is currently in the process of answering questions of candidates for the universal license. This process of technical issues where the answers were made by the Tunisian State, even allow candidates to propose amendments to legal documentation of the tender and especially to the same licensing agreement. This phase should be completed by 13 of the month of March 2009 and responses should occur no later than 7 April this year and the submission of bids on May 5, so we should know the name of the candidate contractor provisionally at the latest during the month of June 2009.

Meanwhile, 9 serious candidates are emerging. There are of course the Tunisian Divona, Vivendi and France Telecom in France, the STC of Saudi Arabia, the emirate Ittisalat BSNL and even the Indian and Chinese PCCW of Hong Kong. This means that the Tunisian offer is great international interest, despite the crisis. This also means, as the same ITU (International Telecommunication Union) in a recent report that the telecommunications sector is not in crisis as some would say.

Source [African Manager]

Many sign and rumors give Divona most of the chances to win the bid as a new growing company and the only Vsat and Wimax provider on the country knowing the local market and having almost a wide Wimax coverage that can be easily used for other telecommunication services.

The operator of Monaco Monaco Telecom has decided to withdraw from the capital of Tunisie Telecom Divona dowry he held 40% of the shares.

The CEO of Monaco Telecom, Denis Martin explained this decision by the delay in announcing the acquisition of the second fixed license and our minority investment "

This disengagement of the operator from its Tunisian subsidiary, which is the first private VSAT operator leaves the door open to future collaboration between the two operators that "remain in very good terms and continue to work together."

Via [African Manger]

Just when Divona was getting ready to get bigger, that quite strange...

This event is supported by organizations and institutions of international renown in the field of CRM and Customer Relationship and the support of prestigious media.
The 2008 edition of Convergence Expo this year is articulated around three main themes, the success of the Customer Relationship Strategy, offering offshore call centers and Tunisians Any IT or new picture of Client Relations.

Go to [Convergences Expo website]

Belive or not, a running bid is under the works for the acquisition of the permit to exploit Tunisian land phones in Tunisiana, the bid was lanched lately with Tunisinana and Divona on the race.

Tunisie Telecom will soon get a competitor to its low quality land lines service, the land phones business includes also ISDN, ADSL, T1, ...

If ever one of those -Especillay Tunisiana- gets in the permit we;re going to see better services and lower prices -even from Tunisie itself- areal improvement in the service, just imagine that your ADSL with less paperwork for the 1/10 of the price installed in a couple of hours.

the telecom integrator and operator specializing in the innovation and deployment of wireless broadband technologies, announced today that it continues its negotiations with Tunisia Telecom in order to act as the provider of this state-of-the-art technology within the territory of Tunisia.

Via [Market Wire]

An insider of Tunisie Telecom just told me about this deal, TT is in process of signing a partnership with the Canadian company to provide Wireless service basically Wimax, the great boom including Tunisiana and some Tunisian ISPs is just getting prepared, the Wimax prices will fall to more than 60% with an upcoming growth of more than 70% by the mid 2009, Tunisie Telecom after seeing popularity of the Wimax and the decline of its land cables services, is seeking to be a good competitor.

Divona customers were deprived today from using the phone, the VoIP goes through dedicated connections with the customer down since this morning involving Tunisie Telecom, our Divona insider is hoping that the outage would be fixed within one hour. In the meanwhile all Wimax users are connected and can enjoy their Internet and Network up and running. Many customers prefers to get all their bandwidth through the Wimax to reduce the impact of the frequent issues in Tunisie Telecom T1 services.

It has a while that the government is making the access to the Wimax to the provider a bit easier under pressure -despite Divona monopoly- many other compagnyare being negotiating the terms of permit to provide Wimax for the masses, a Tunisiana insider reported that it should take time before that the they would be able to enter the market within many other corporations as ISPs, government companies and telecommunications operators.

The deployment of the Wimax would be a piece of cake for Tunisia, because the back office have all the architecture home-made and ready as they have provided the service through many of the Orascom offices around the arab world.

In fact, as usual Tunisiana is counting on Nokia to make that happen as much as Cisco, I have even heard of USB Wimax cards from Alcatel, but it may lead to an other permit and negotiations.

A new era of communication is getting prepared in secrecy, the Wireless market would provide boradhand access to millions of people instantly all around the country without being aware of where they are.

TORONTO (WiMAX Day). Redline Communications Group announced that it will supply its RedMAX products to Divona Telecom in Tunisia. Redline said in a press release today that it has worked with Divona during a three-month trial. Divona now plans to build a WiMAX network over the next two years that will connect five major cities in Tunisia, including Tunis, Nabeul, Souse, Monastir and Sfax. According to M. Mohamed Garbouj, General Manager of Divona Telecom, the company already has several hundred customers using WiMAX now, and their plan is “to double [its] subscriber base every quarter for the next four years, exceeding our four-year ROI goal.” Divona Telecom is owned by Planet Tunisie and Monaco Telecom, itself a subsidiary of Cable & Wireless

The wimax is spreading around at constant rise of customers and speed, it seems that the future in communications in Tunisia is avout to boycot the cables despite the higher costs and risks, it seems that almost al the customers have asked service from Divona as Tunisie Telecom continue to offer primate non realistic service.

Via [Wimax Today]

Dublin, Jan 25, 2008 (M2 PRESSWIRE via COMTEX) -- ALVR | news | PowerRating | PR Charts -- Monaco Telecom, a Cable & Wireless affiliate, announced it is working with Alvarion, Cisco and Nokia to establish a Center of Excellence on Mobile Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) in the Principality.

The initiative between the four companies will demonstrate the mobility and high-speed features of Mobile WiMAX 802.16e-2005. The new technology will allow customers to leverage a service and move freely while using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), streaming video and other Internet applications. The capability allows the network to move with the customer - enabling true mobility and improving the experience of the user.

In addition to showcasing personal broadband services, Alvarion's 802.16e-2005-based 4Motion solution will be demonstrated and is expected to reach a commercial level during 2008. The Cisco Broadband Wireless Gateway solution is a key component and part of Cisco WiMAX portfolio providing an open WiMAX Access Service Network (ASN) gateway functionality. This latest expansion of Cisco's Service Exchange Framework enables Monaco Telecom to support another access technology. Nokia will contribute with its expertise in mobility and an Internet Tablet compatible with WiMAX 2.5 GHz.

As an active fixed WiMAX provider with an effective deployment running in Tunisia, Monaco Telecom was an ideal partner for such experimentation. Based on its technical knowledge and customer experience, Monaco Telecom intends to improve its expertise in what is a greenfield area.

"The WiMAX strategy and network architecture are essential for us as a global operator to maintain competitive edge and maximize WiMAX capabilities. We envision the Center of Excellence as the manifestation of best-of-breed WiMAX, and with an ultimate result of implementation in different networks around the world", said Denis Martin, CEO of Monaco Telecom.

"Working with Alvarion, Cisco and Monaco Telecom is a great step towards making Mobile WiMAX available for consumers and fits perfectly with our strategy of offering a broad and innovative portfolio of devices." said Ari Virtanen, Vice President, Convergence Products, Nokia.

"We are excited about working with Cisco, Monaco Telecom and Nokia," said Tzvika Friedman, president and CEO of Alvarion. "We are continuing implementations with leading device manufactures as Nokia, and global operators such as Cable & Wireless via Monaco Telecom. Cisco's Broadband Wireless Gateway can allow seamless integration with Nokia's WiMAX-enabled devices; IOT is part of our OPEN WiMAX approach to increase innovation and services for the benefit of our customers."

"Broadband services are increasingly important to the lives of individuals and the economic development of many countries", said Larry Lang, Cisco vice president and general manager of the Services and Mobility Business Unit. "We are seeing significant demand for the delivery of Internet access and Internet Protocol-based services over wireless access technologies, and this opportunity to work with Monaco Telecom, Nokia and Alvarion with WiMAX is an exciting example of how this demand can be effectively met."

Via [Trading Markets]