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Tunisia Telecom News
France Telecom consortium wins Tunisia license (From Computer Business, July 1,
2009)
- France
Telecom and Divona Telecom have won a license for mobile and fixed-line
phone services in Tunisia for TND 257m ($190m).
The partnership
will invest TND 1.08bn ($799m) over next three years in the North African
country to roll out their network and create 2,000 jobs among university
graduates. The license will involve the installation of network
infrastructure and the provision of second and third generation mobile
services. The consortium was in competition with Turkish operator Turkcell
for the license.
There are
currently two mobile network operators in the country, Tunisie Telecom and
Orascom's Tunisiana. In 2006, Tunisie Telecom opened up 35% of its capital
to Dubai-based Tecom-Dig for 1.8bn euros ($2.52bn). According to the Tunisian
Ministry of Communication Technologies, there are 8.6 million mobile phone
subscribers in the country with a population of 10.2 million.
Tinisie Telecom, Alcatel-Lucent and RIM launch
the BlackBerry Solution in Tunisia
(From
Zawaya.com, March 19, 2009)
Paris - Tunisie
Telecom, a global telecom operator in Tunisia,
Alcatel-Lucent and Research In Motion (RIM) today announced the commercial
launch of the BlackBerry® solution in Tunisia.
TUNISIE
TELECOM's customers will now be able to enjoy the benefits of enhanced
communications and increased productivity by using a BlackBerry® smartphone
to access email, browse the web, make phone calls, send and receive text
and picture messages, as well as access a wide variety of business and
leisure applications on the move.
At launch,
Tunisie Telecom will offer its customers the BlackBerry® Pearl™ 8100,
BlackBerry® Pearl™ 8120, BlackBerry® Curve™ 8320, BlackBerry®
8800 and BlackBerry® Bold™ 9000 smartphones as well as service on
BlackBerry® Enterprise Server and BlackBerry® Internet Service.
Based on its
distribution agreement with RIM, Alcatel-Lucent will leverage its strong
local presence in the region to provide Tunisie Telecom the end-to-end
implementation, launch, and on-going support for delivering the BlackBerry
solution to the Tunisian market.
"As the
historical operator in Tunisia,
our commitment is to efficiently meet the market demand and provide our
professional customer with best of class communications solutions",
said Montassar Quaili, CEO, Tunisie Telecom.
"We are
pleased to offer the BlackBerry smartphones - an innovative and
revolutionary solution already used by millions of subscribers
worldwide."
With the
BlackBerry solution, Tunisie Telecom’s enterprise customers will
enjoy a competitive advantage with secure communications and productivity
increases. The users of this innovative solution will enjoy the opportunity
of being connected with the office without using a computer.
"This
agreement strengthens Alcatel-Lucent’s leading position worldwide and
in the region," said Vincenzo Nesci, President of Alcatel-Lucent's
activities in the Middle East & Africa. “Tunisie Telecom will
expand their business opportunity and enable their customers to benefit
from the high flexibility offered by BlackBerry smartphones for staying
connected any time and everywhere."
"We are pleased to work with
Alcatel-Lucent and Tunisie Telecom to deploy the BlackBerry solution in Tunisia.
The BlackBerry solution remains the perfect choice for organizations and
individuals that strive to be more productive," said Mark Guibert,
Vice President, Corporate Marketing at Research In Motion.
Orascom seeks to squeeze Wataniya out of
Tunisiana (From
itp.net, May 7, 2006)
- Egypt’s Orascom Telecom has announced
that it will file a request for arbitration against Kuwait operator Wataniya Telecom to enforce
what it claims to be a contractual right to acquire Wataniya’s 50%
stake in Tunisiana, Tunisia’s second mobile
operator.
Orascom owns
the remaining 50% of Tunisiana, having sold Wataniya a 50% stake in October
2002 at a cost of US$113.5 million, including an immediate cash payment of
US$90 million. Wataniya had unsuccessfully bid for the concession to
operate Tunisia’s
second mobile operation in its own right, and later accepted teaming up
with Orascom to run Tunisiana.
Tunisiana
counted 2.388 million subscribers at the end of March 2006, translating to
a 44% market share where market penetration reached 55% in Tunisia.
Orascom states
that it has been unable to reach an amicable resolution of its claim that
Wataniya has materially breached an agreement, and will therefore request
for arbitration with the International Chamber of Commerce’s International
Court of Arbitration.
“Wataniya
has noted the public announcement made by Orascom Telecom,” Ahmad
Haleem, CEO of Wataniya International told CommsMEA. Reading from a company statement, Haleem
said it was Wataniya’s belief that the arbitration should have
remained a confidential matter and that the Kuwaiti operator was
disappointed by Orascom’s decision to make the matter public.
“Wataniya remains of the firm belief that the grounds for the
arbitration are entirely without merit,” Haleem added.
Six companies bid to acquire 35% stake in Tunisie
Telecom (March
9, 2006)
TUNIS (Dow Jones) -
Six companies have placed a bid to acquire a 35% stake in Tunisia's largest
telecommunications carrier Tunisie Telecom, the Tunisian Communication
Ministry said Wednesday evening.
The
partial privatization of Tunisie Telecom estimated at around EUR1.5 billion
has attracted bids from French companies France Telecom and Vivendi
Universal; South African group Mobil Telephone Networks; United Arab Emirates'
Etisalat and Tecom Co. - all of whom have put in separate offers. Telecom
Italia and Saudi Oger Ltd. have made a common offer, the Ministry said.
Financial
offers will be examined in the second half of March in the presence of all
the bidders but the name of the winner will only be known in about three
months, the Ministry said. There could also be an auction if the offers are
within 10% of each other, the Ministry added.
The
Tunisian government was originally planning to seal a deal by Dec. 13 but
has constantly delayed the bidding deadline.
Tunisia picks 13 firms for telecom sale
(From the
Gulf News, October 10,
2005)
TUNIS
- Tunisia
has selected 13 companies for the sale of a 35 per cent stake in Tunisie
Telecom, the Telecommunications Ministry said yesterday.
Tunisia
expects to take in as much as $1.7 billion (Dh6.23 billion) from the deal
as it spurs competition in the industry.
Fourteen companies had
applied after the government launched the tender on August 29, the ministry
said in a statement.
It did not say which
company it had rejected but named Spain's Telefonica, France
Telecom, Telecom Italia and Portugal Telecom among the 13 firms.
"The quality and
the number of operators highlighted the strong interest aroused by the
Tunisian telecoms industry and the whole country's economy," the
ministry said.
The other companies
are: France's
Bouygues Telecom, Bahrain's Batelco, Etisalat of
the UAE, T-Mobile, Mobile Telephone Networks, Saudi Oger, Saudi Telecom
Company, Telecom Dig and Vivendi Universal.
Tunisie Telecom has a
monopoly in fixed-line telephony and in the mobile market it competes with
Tunisiana, a joint venture of Kuwait's National Mobile
Telecom (Wataniya) and Egypt's
Orascom Telecom.
Telecom
Italia, Tunisia Telecom in alliance to
supply company services (October
6, 2004)
MILAN (AFX) - Telecom Italia SpA and
state-owned Tunisia Telecom said they launched a partnership to supply
voice and data services to companies in the Mediterranean region.
Chinese telecom firm wins 3G
telecom equipment deal in Tunisia (July 3, 2004)
(MENAFN)
- The leading Chinese telecom company Zhongxing Telecom Equipment (ZTE)
recently won a 3G telecom equipment deal in Tunisia, Xinhua News Agency
reported.
By an agreement between ZTE and the Tunisian Ministry of Transportation and
Communications, the telecom firm will provide full WCDMA equipment for two
3G networks in two Tunisian cities
The networks are scheduled for operation in late 2005. Besides the traditional
end-to-end WCDMA network, ZTE will also unveil WCDMA+WI-FI, a combination
of the WCDMA and wireless technologies.
Tunisie Telecom's new GSM
tariffs: Prepaid strategy or churn prevention measure? (From menareport.com, March 19,
2003)
- On February 28, 2003, Tunisie Telecom
announced a restructuring of its mobile GSM (Global System for Mobile
Communication) tariffs. The new tariffs indicate a clear focus by the
incumbent on enticing new subscriber additions, and even portions of its
own contract subscriber base, to its prepaid service, according to IDC
global market intelligence and advisory firm.
"As expected, Tunisie Telecom lowered its prepaid activation fees in
response to the lower activation fees of the new entrant, Tunisiana. And to
continue capitalizing on the growth momentum in the prepaid market, Tunisie
Telecom reduced its prepaid per minute fee," explained Mohsen Malaki,
senior analyst in IDC CEMA's Telecommunications Group.
But the incumbent's per-12 second billing structure, from the first 12
seconds, is an aggressive move that has not yet been undertaken in the
region, particularly this early on in the growth phase of a duopoly market,
according to an IDC report.
"Many of the markets that have reached a relatively advanced level of
penetration and experienced price competition have moved on to billing by
the second after the first minute of use, but none have been so aggressive
as to charge by the fraction of the first minute," continued Malaki.
The reasoning for this has been that the majority of outgoing mobile calls
are less than a minute in duration, implying a significant revenue loss for
any operator charging by the fraction of the first minute. Tunisie
Telecom's competitive new prepaid price structure may be a fix for the
operator's own internal ailments, as much as it may be a response to
competition.
It is well known that Tunisie Telecom's contract GSM customers have long
complained of billing problems by the operator. First, its customers
receive their bills every six months, creating a sticker-shock each time a
customer receives a copy of the bill, while also increasing the likelihood
of perceived billing errors by the customer.
This results in customer dissatisfaction and possible churn to the
competitor. Second, and equally as important, is the strain that a
six-month billing interval places on Tunisie Telecom's cash flow and
liquidity. Third, the incumbent suffers from a high frequency of late or
unpaid bills. Finally, Tunisie Telecom is notorious for repeated errors in
billing, which have infuriated many a customer.
Seen in this light, the new tariff structure is designed to entice new
gross subscriber additions towards prepaid rather than contract, while also
creating a churn of Tunisie Telecom's own contract subscribers to its
prepaid plan. This should preserve Tunisie Telecom's market share and
prevent churn of contract subscribers to the competitor, and thereby
avoiding the negative impact of its poor billing system and cycle.
The quick fix, in the form of aggressive prepaid tariff reductions
implemented by Tunisie Telecom in the face of its poor billing
infrastructure, has in effect cannibalized the market for contract
subscriptions. This might be a short-term solution for Tunisie Telecom's
billing problems, but could be detrimental to the medium-term growth
potential for contract subscriptions.
"The cannibalization of the contract market by Tunisie Telecom will
have a lingering effect on the balance between prepaid and contract in
Tunisia over the next five years, as the new entrant, and eventually the
incumbent, struggle to entice high-revenue prepaid customers, including
many business customers, to switch to contract subscriptions,"
asserted Malaki.
Given the aggressive moves to dominate the prepaid market, IDC expects
Tunisie Telecom to continue maintaining its market share leadership, even
with the freezing of new subscriber additions during several months of
2002.
IDC believes Tunisiana (the commercial name of Orascom Telecom Tunisie)
will respond quickly to the new tariffs being offered by its competitor,
and attempt to focus on the prepaid market for now, while gradually trying
to identify and then entice high-revenue prepaid customers to opt for
contracts.
Therefore, IDC's forecasts assume a competitive market focus on service
quality on the contract side, and on usage tariffs on the prepaid side.
"Both operators realize that the real revenue growth potential from a
rapidly expanding subscriber base will not be in usage, but rather in activation
fee revenue," said Malaki, "and thus we do not expect a rapid
deterioration of activation fees over the next two years."
IDC expects activation fee revenue to be as high as 26 percent of total
operator revenue (services plus activation revenue) during 2003, tapering
off rapidly, to one percent by 2006.
Tunisia drops mobile tender as offers too low (July
29, 2001)
TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisia
said on Friday it had abandoned attempts to tender a second GSM mobile
phone license because it was not satisfied with the $381 million offered by
the highest bidder.
"The tender was abandoned. Studies are underway to
find the best way to set up and run the second GSM network in Tunisia,"
the Telecommunications Ministry said in a statement.
The leading contender was a consortium of Spanish
telecom operator Telefonica and Portugal's Telecom, which
outbid the second contender, Telcom Italia Mobile, the mobile division of
Telecom Italia, which teamed up with unspecified partners.
The ministry had postponed the tender for the sale of
the second GSM licence, initially set for May 5, to May 19.
It said on Friday it began examining the offers on June
9 when the Telefonica and Telecom consortium emerged as the highest bidder
with $333 million. The consortium increased its offer from $333 million to
$381 million on June 23.
Asked
consortium to up offer
The ministry said it then asked the consortium to up
their offer, setting July 19 as the deadline before extending it to July
27. "The ministry received a written answer from the consortium
underlining that it cannot increase the price on the grounds that the
telecom sector is encountering difficulties worldwide," the statement
said.
The ministry did not say what Telcom Italia Mobile had
bid but added that both bidders were informed that their offers were not
satisfactory.
It did not disclose what price the ministry was looking
for. Tunisia
launched the tender on March 23 as part of the government's efforts to
liberalize the telecom sector.
Officials were not immediately available to comment on
the ministry statement that the authorities were considering the "best
way" to set up and operate the second GSM network and whether it meant
they were still seeking a foreign operator despite the tender failure.
The first mobile phone license, awarded in 1998, is held
by state-owned Tunisia Telecom, which has more than 150,000 users, and the
firm intends expanding its network capacity to more than 400,000 by the end
of 2001.
Authorities
say thousands of Tunisians have applied for mobiles, but they have to wait
for the end of a government expansion plan or the setting up of second
network.
Tunisia puts off GSM phone tender date to May 19 (May
5, 2001)
TUNIS (Reuters) - The
Tunisian Telecommunications Ministry has postponed the tender for the sale
of a second GSM phone license, initially set for next Saturday, to May 19
at 1 pm (12:00 GMT), a senior official said on Friday.
"The Ministry decided to
put off the closing date to May 19, in response to demands raised by some
operators, who wanted more time to complete their applications," he
said.
The official said the ministry
would issue a statement on Saturday to announce the postponement.
Tunisia launched the tender for the sale of a second Global
Mobile System telephone license on March 23 and set the initial tender
closing date for Saturday, May 5 at 12:00
GMT.
The tender is part of the North
African country's bid to liberalize the telecommunications sector.
State-owned Tunisia Telecom, which has about 150,000 users, holds the first
mobile phone license, awarded in 1996, and the firm intends expanding its
network capacity to 400,000 by end of 2001.
The ministry said eligible
bidders for the second license must be either:
- A single independent firm, characterized
as a qualified operator, or a firm, whose shareholders include one or two
qualified operators.
- A consortium including one
qualified operator at least, or a maximum of two.
The qualified operator must be
the direct or indirect owner in the last two years of a minimum 51 percent
stake in a telecom license with at least 500,000 cellular phone subscribers
at end 2000.
In the case of a consortium, the
leading bidder should have net assets worth more than $400 million or a
market capitalization of $2.0 billion.
The official said so far "several foreign
operators had already submitted their offers for the tender".
"The number and the quality of the operators which had made offers is
meeting the expectations of the authorities," he added but declined to
name any of the bidders or the operators who asked for more time to join
the bids.
Tunisia to award second GSM licence by
July (April 6, 2001)
TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisia, anticipating huge
interest from major telecommunications firms, will award its second GSM
mobile phone license in July at the latest, a senior official at the
Telecommunications Ministry said on Friday.
The North African country opened
a tender for the licence sale last month and set a May 5 deadline for
offers. "The interest is huge and we see a successful result for the
tender," he said.
"We expect the licence
tender process to be concluded in June or the beginning of July," the
top official, who asked not to be named, said.
The tender is open for a single
independent firm or a consortium including one operator or a maximum of
two, provided they satisfy conditions detailed in the tender.
The license lasts 15 years, but
the official said it can be extended for a further five years.
To show authorities' wish for a
speedy sale process, a closed meeting will be held next Wednesday in Tunis between the
ministry's senior officials and experts and the bidders.
The official said several major
telecom players had shown interest in the tender because of what he termed
promising potential in the country’s mobile phone market.
Egypt's Orascom Telecom and Portugal Telecom have expressed
interest in the Tunisian second phone license but the official declined to
name other interested firms.
Fellow Maghreb
country, Morocco,
sold in 1999 a second GSM license for $1.1 billion to Meditelecom, a
consortium led by Spain's
Telefonica and Portugal Telecom.
Population of Morocco is
three times that of Tunisia,
but GDP per capita is around half Tunisia's.
The official evoked what he
described as the "country's stability, a large middle class of nearly
80 percent of the 10 million population, which enjoys relatively high
standards of living and macro-economic growth of more than five percent
over the past decade".
"Every Tunisian is yearning
for a mobile phone and bidders are aware of that. That's why we expect the
competition over the license to be fierce," he said.
Authorities say thousands of
Tunisians had applied for mobile phones but they had to wait for the end of
a government expansion plan or the arrival of the second licensee.
The first mobile phone license,
awarded in 1996, is held by state-owned Tunisia Telecom, which has about
150,000 users but the firm intends expanding its network capacity to
400,000 by end of 2001.
Asked about the current mobile
operator revenues, the official refused to give a figure, arguing that the
information was a key indicator sought by bidders. "The revenue is
significant and the operator or operators who will win the tender will
benefit a great deal. The return would be more than ten-fold the
investment," he said.
The official said the country
had laid grounds for strong growth in telecoms, with a relatively good
infrastructure and new legislation.
A telecoms regulatory body,
known as Telecoms National Authority, was also set up to enforce fair
competition in the sector.
The official added that a
presidential order on interconnection fees is expected to be issued soon,
to avoid any possible conflict between Tunisia Telecom and the new private
operator.
The government says it invested
in 1990-2000 a total 2.36 billion dinars ($1.66 billion) in fixed and
mobile infrastructure. "The telecoms sector annual average growth
stood at more than 17 percent over the last five years, that's three times
the average growth rate of the economy," a government report said.
The number of telephone fixed
phone subscribers jumped from 226,000 in 1987 to 1.2 million in 2000. The
government plans to increase fixed phone penetration to 25 percent of the
population by 2004 from 12 percent in 2000.
Government data shows that GDP
per capita soared from $115.6 in 1966 to $1,922 in 1998 and to $2,800 in
2000, one of the highest in the North African area.
Tunisia opens bidding
for new mobile licence (March 28, 2001)
TUNIS (TAP)- Tunisia could have a new mobile
operator by the end of the year after the government opened a tender for
the second GSM license.
Potential bidders have until 12:00 GMT on May 5th to submit their proposals.
In order to qualify, they must be either “a single independent firm,
characterized as a qualified operator or a firm, whose shareholders include
one or two qualified operators; or a consortium including one qualified
operator at least, or a maximum of two,” according to the communications
ministry.
The ‘qualified operator’ must be the direct or
indirect owner, for at least the last two years, of a minimum of 51 percent
of a telecoms license with a least half a million cellular subscribers.
Any companies leading a consortium should have net
assets worth more than US $400 million, or market capitalization of at
least $2 billion.
By setting the standards for bidders so high, it
seems that the Tunisian government is looking for bidders from outside the
region.
Portugal Telecom declared an interest in the licence
earlier this month, saying it would form a consortium with Spanish operator
Telefonica. The two worked together two years ago to scoop the second
Moroccan GSM license, in a $1 billion deal backed by BMCE Bank and the
Afriquia Group.
At present the only GSM license in the country is
held by state-owned PTT monopoly Tunisia Telecom. Launched five years ago,
it can handle up to 50,000 subscribers.
A $74 million expansion plan is on schedule to be
finished by December, which will add capacity for up to 300,000 further
users.
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