January 2001

Tunisia Master Report

This is the final Alternative Networks report on Tunisia as the ESIS project ended in January 2001. This Master Report covers the whole period of the ESIS project surveying the Mediterranean Area, March 1999 - January 2001 inclusive. 

1.1 Regulation of telecommunications and alternative networks

1.1.1 Historical overview

Since the independence of Tunisia in 1956, the telecommunications entity has been a conventional government department (Secretariat of State) supervised and regulated by the Ministry of Communications and Transportation. In 1987, the PTT gained the right to retain earned revenues for direct reinvestment in the sector. In every other way however, it remained a conventional government department. An ITU study conducted in 1990 strongly recommended institutional reforms, specifically restructuring the entity in order to provide legal access to greater financial borrowing sources and the authority to offer competitive salaries to its staff.

In the early 1990s, proposals for restructuring the entity into a public enterprise or other semi-autonomous organization were met with hostility from the PTT labour union. A demonstration in April 1992 by the labour unions opposing greater autonomy measures was met with assurances from the Ministry of Communications that no changes were imminent. Nonetheless, the issue was prominent in the discussions concerning Tunisia's 8^th National Plan (1992-96).

1.1.2 Present general legislation

In 1995, the Chamber of Deputies (Tunisian Parliament) adopted a law specifying the creation of a national office of telecommunications. This restructuring changes the entity from an administrative structure to a public enterprise with industrial and commercial orientation. In 1996, Tunisia's telecom operating entity, formerly known as the General Directorate of Telecommunications (DGT), was established as an independent Tunisie Telecom. The Ministry of Communications (MOC) continued to act as the regulatory entity and is still ultimately responsible for the development of Tunisia's telecommunications infrastructure.

The main key legislative measures are the following:

Key measures	Objective	Date
Law 88-145	Creation of Telecommunications Studies & Research Center	31 Dec 1988
Law 93-8	Creation of National Office of Telediffusion (ONT)	1 Feb 1993
Law 95-36	Creation of National Office of Telecommunications (Tunisie Telecom)	17 April 1995
Law 95-2033	Administrative and financial organisation of the Telecommunications Studies & Research Centre	16 Oct 1995
-	Creation of Tunisian Agency for Internet (ATI)	April 1996

As part of the recent WTO Basic Telecommunications Services Agreement reached in February 1997, Tunisia committed to market access and national treatment for the following:

• Telex and packet-switched data services as of January 1 1999,
• Mobile telephone, paging, teleconferencing and frame relay as of January 1, 2000
• Local voice telephony as of January 1, 2003.

Foreign ownership in the telecommunications sector is limited to 49 percent (10 percent in the case of Tunisie Telecom).

1.2 Regulation and status of public utilities and public organisations regarding a potential entry in the alternative networks industry

Currently, Tunisie Telecom is the sole provider of telecommunications facilities. Therefore, at the moment there is no legal framework or regulatory authority for the application of transmission infrastructure or "alternative networks" owned by public utilities to Information Society.

The Ninth Plan whose main theme, as decided by the President of the Republic, is the global upgrading ‘mise à niveau’ of the economy, represents an important milestone in the country’s development process as Tunisia prepares to step into the 21^st century. This Plan has several distinguishing features that are the result of the prevailing national and international environment, the method used for its preparation and its objectives will prepare the Tunisian economy for greater integration into the international environment.

The world is in the process of undergoing significant changes. In particular, there has been an emergence of major regional trading blocs, and a growing tendency among countries to liberalise their economies and to adopt market system as the basis of economic organisation, management and policy making. In light of these developments, Tunisia decided to join the World Trade Organisation (WTO), and to sign a partnership agreement with the European Union (E.U.). Setting-up a free-trade area is among the major goals of that agreement since this is considered the most efficient way to reinforce relations between the signatories as it will create greater growth opportunities and attract more foreign direct investments (FDI).

In view of the fact that the free-trade area (FTA) with the E.U. is going to be set up over a period of 12 years, the Ninth Plan was designed on the basis of this long-term perspective and in light of numerous preliminary strategic studies. The studies focused on the preparation of different growth scenarios and the analysis of particularly important issues such agriculture, transport, communication, land management, population growth and others.

The telecommunications market in Tunisia has been liberalized substantially since 1987. During the 1992-96 Plan period, public telephone service was opened up to the private sector. The number of public telephones managed by private company’s rose rapidly from 1,097 in 1992 to 4,730 in 1994. Facsimile and paging services were also privatised.

1.3 The actors and their strategies

Given the legal impediments, which currently exist to the commercial exploitation of any alternative networks, no organisation was found to have consciously developed alternative networks on a commercial basis. Nevertheless, the anticipated liberalisation of telecommunications services, as well as the liberalisation of data transmission services provide the opportunity in the future for organisations other than the historical operator (Tunisie Telecom) to do so.

Investments in the telecommunications sector have almost quadrupled during the last ten years. In 1987, the amount of government expenditures totalled 400 million dinars; this year 1.5 billion dinars (roughly the same in US dollars) are earmarked for telecommunications investments.

The development strategy for Internet in Tunisia progresses along three main lines:

• Developing and modernising the infrastructure.

• Setting up a suitable platform for organisation and regulation.

• Developing training, subcontracting and mastering of technology.

An overall approach to information technologies aims at giving the largest possible number of people access to modern means of telecommunication. This coupled with decisions that allowed for several reductions in phone and Internet access rates, have allowed Internet subscribers in Tunisia to enjoy some of the lowest rates in the Mediterranean (20 hours of local calls for only 12 Tunisian dinars, almost the same in US dollars).

2.1 Types of companies offering networks (gas, railway, water and draining networks, waterways, motorways, electrical networks, cable...): description, choice and strategies (alliance opportunities, vertical integration,…), and customer targeting.

2.1.1 Electricity & Gas Network

The state-owned SOCIETE TUNISIENNE DE L’ ELECTRICITE ET DU GAS (STEG) is a monopoly in Tunisia and is under the responsibility of the Ministry of Industry. The company has the responsibility for the production, transportation, distribution and sale of electricity and natural gas. It also holds the exclusive right to import and export electricity. The power capacity of the country is 1,680 MW with plans to add one 300 MW power station every two years. The electricity consumption in Tunisia is 741 kWh per capita (source: International Energy Agency, 1996), while the rate of rural electricity supply is 76% (source: Ministry of Economy, Tunisia, 1996).

The company employs a total staff of about 10,012 workers (energy and gas), operates through 36 districts covering 93% of the country. It has 2,044,779 of residential clients (2,034,767 energy / 100,541 gas), 11,196 of commercial clients (10,582 energy / 614 gas) and 26 industrial clients (12 energy - 14 gas).

The length of national grid and length of distribution network is 98,020 km. Concerning gas, a 790 km distribution network of high-pressure natural gas is operating in the country. The company uses a static Intranet as a corporate communication network for internal use, which was established in 1998. The department that is dealing with the corporate communication network is the computer department of the company.

2.1.2 Water Network

The state-owned SOCIETE NATIONALE D’ EXPLOITATION ET DE DISTRIBUTION DES EAUX (SONEDE) is a monopoly in Tunisia and is under the responsibility of the Ministry of Agriculture. The rate of connection to the water distribution network in urban areas is 97.1%, while in rural areas the access to drinking water is 67.7% (source: Ministry of Economy, Tunisia, 1996).

2.1.3 Railway & Road Network

The state-owned SOCIETE NATIONALE DES CHEMINS DE FER TUNISIENS (SNCFT) is a monopoly in Tunisia and is under the responsibility of the Ministry of Transport. The railway network totals 2,475 km and covers the country from North to South. It is connected to both the Algerian and Moroccan railway networks. A 20,000 km road system exists in Tunisia, including 150 km of highway. The highway program for the 1997-2006 period involves three segments representing a total length of 450 km.

2.1.4 General Trends

Tunisia is a country with a fast growing economy. According to World Bank, Tunisia has recorded the highest growth rate in the Middle East and in Africa during recent years. A large privatisation program has started in Tunisia in recent years concerning mainly cement factories, mechanical construction and the textile sector. The public networks are still state-owned and this characteristic does not seem to change in the near future. Furthermore, there are no plans for the alternative networks to offer telecommunication services.

2.3 Types of services offered by the operators on the networks

Internet Service Providers: There is one public ISP in Tunisia. Tunisian Agency for Internet (ATI) (www.ati.tn) provides Internet services for government agencies and NGOs in Tunisia.

Private ISPs:

• Planet Tunisie (www.planet.tn)
• 3S Global Net (www.gnet.tn)

These Internet Service Providers provide private sector personal Internet access via RTC, leased lines, X.25 lines and ISDN.