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]

Two partnership agreements and cooperation have been signed, Thursday 27 November in Hammamet, the Tunisian government and the multinational "Intel Corporation" on the one hand, and the Arab organization for information technology and communication and 'International Telecommunication Union (ITU), on the other hand, simultaneously with the work of the International Forum ICT 4 All Forum-Tunis +3.

In this context, MM. El Hadj Gley, minister of communication technologies and Gordon Graylish, vice president of the multinational "Intel Corporation, signed a partnership agreement in the fields of computers and electronics.

This cooperation aims to implement a program to support "Intel Teach" promoting the spread of new technologies in educational institutions in Tunisia, in addition to a WIMAX broadband and radio frequency management.

This agreement also stipulates the upgrading of small and medium enterprises engaged in Tunisian fields of industry, and the promotion of Tunisian expertise in the field of ICTs.

Figures recently released by the Ministry of Communication Technologies reveal a significant growth of mobile phone and internet users in Tunisia. In June 2008 the two mobile phone operators (Tunisie Telecom and Tunisiana) had a combined 8.12 million mobile phone subscribers up from 7 million twelve months earlier.

At the same point, there were 2.68 million internet users compared to 1.68 million in June 2007. The number of ADSL connections has doubled from 76,000 in 2007 to 153,000 in 2008. 27% of users have 512KB connections, and 22,000 users have a connection equal or superior to 1Mbps.

The number of companies benefiting from WiMAX connections reached 700 at the end of June 2008, and the number of subscribers to data sending through VSAT had also increased to reach 420, notably among enterprises producing software and computer systems and call centres.

Via [TeleGeography]

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, March 11, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- The CDMA Development Group (CDG) today announced that Africa and the Middle East are the fastest growing in terms of the number of 3G CDMA networks and subscribers, with 65 operators in 38 countries who have selected the technology to provide affordable telecommunications services and more than 12 million subscribers in the region. Of the list of operators, Algeria Telecom, Movicel in Angola, Starcomms of Nigeria, Sudatel, Wana in Morocco and Yemen Mobile all surpassed the one million CDMA subscriber mark in the past year. These milestones underscore how quickly CDMA2000(r) is becoming the technology of choice for emerging markets.

61 Tunisia Telecom Tunisia 1X (Commercial)

CDMA2000 is the most widely deployed 3G technology, with 252 operators in 99 countries, including 88 CDMA2000 1xEV-DO systems, serving more than 417 million subscribers. Counting 2G cdmaOne(tm) subscribers, there are more than 431 million CDMA users worldwide. CDMA2000 has become the technology of choice for developed and emerging market operators, and is deployable in the 450, 700, 800, 1700, 1900 and 2100 MHz bands. More than 1,950 CDMA2000 devices from 107 suppliers have been introduced to the market, including more than 492 EV-DO and 43 Rev. A devices.

Via [Prime News Wire]

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.

Even Tunisia, which has a less thriving economy than SA, has a greater penetration rate, connecting 12.68 people per 1 000, he said.

Tunisia is having the biggest rate of connected people on broadband Internet of the whole continent.

Source [ITWeb]

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]