Overview July 1999: Tunisia

1. Key Players:

• One of the IS key players is the PTO and sole supplier of basic telecommunication services: the National Telecommunications Office (Office National des Telecommunications, ONT), also called Tunisie Telecom. Tunisie Telecom was created in April 1995, established in January 1996 and is particularly charged with the installation and exploitation of public telecommunication networks, service offering to public/private telecommunication correspondents, promotion of new services and cooperation and the contribution of telecommunication sector studies development.

Tunisie Telecom has been expanding the telecom network in the rural eastern half of the country, manages Internet access for telecommunications agencies and has been upgrading existing switches and exchanges. Tunisie Telecom aims to increase telephone density to around 14 percent by the end of the decade. Tunisia's domestic transmission network presently makes extensive use of microwave radio links, and also uses microwave links to communicate with its immediate neighbours, Algeria and Libya.

Tunisie Telecom is responsible for TUNIPAC, a high performance public network that offers Data Packet Transmission through X.25 protocol.

TUNIRIS, is a recent innovative action undertaken by Tunisie Telecom. Thanks to the aforementioned action, voice, text, data and image are integrated henceforth Videoconference, Teleworking, Telemedicine and Telesurveillance are feasible.

A GSM cellular telephone service, called TUNICELL has started in 1998 and is still under development. The Tunisian GSM mobile phone network is expected to reach 100,000 subscribers by the end of 1999 announced Communications Minister Ahmed Friaa early May 1999. Speaking at a press briefing, Friaa said that the fast growth witnessed by network has exceeded his department's forecasts. Launched in March 1998, the network went into operation 6 months before schedule. It started coverage within the greater Tunis area and then extensions were achieved to provide coverage along the coastal areas. The minister noted that Tunisian companies and engineers built 85% of the GSM network. Mr. Friaa noted that the GSM network, which numbered at the beginning 30,000 lines, rose now to 40,000 subscribers and will be extended soon to 50,000 lines before reaching a global capacity of 100,000 lines before the end of the current year. Previous plans forecasted 200,000 lines by the end of 2001 while demand has been exceeding all expectations and is due to increase even further when new areas inland will be covered by the GSM network next summer. Mr. Friaa noted that "GSM roaming services" are available in Tunisia and are made possible with 34 countries thanks to agreements with 49 providers in those countries. More countries and companies are being added as soon as agreements are signed with the Tunisian provider Tunisie Telecom.

• The National Documentation Center (Centre de documentation nationale, (CDN)) has developed a guide to information services in Tunisia and a number of databases including ITARAT on government, and ASSO on associations. CDN has also developed biographic data on informatics professionals.

• The National Center of Informatics (CNI) is responsible for: advising National Departments on Information Technologies, developing software projects on demand of the National Departments, central and local administrations, and public enterprises, running a computing centre. Although it is mainly dedicated to administrative data processing, this facility is also available to public administrations and enterprises.The National Departments and the central administration rely almost exclusively on CNI for support and expertise in information technology and computing. CNI has been quite effective in playing this role, which accounts for the largest part of its activity. The rest of its activity is essentially technology acquisition and development. In particular, the CNI has benefited from the help of the EC in the framework of the programme TEDIS for a project on EDI and arabisation.

• Following a presidential initiative, Tunisian Internet Agency (ATI) was created to promote Internet services. ATI does not provide access to the end-user but provides access to the various suppliers who perform this function. ATI operates POPs in seven towns across the country and provides 1Mbps of International connectivity, via Sprint to the US and 4MBps via Telecom Italia, which was increased to 8Mbps by the end of '98. Internet access is available via a local call across the whole country.

• The Regional Institute of Information Sciences and Telecommunications (IRSIT) is the national focal point for the regional arab network RAITNET assisted by the Center of Arab League. It manages Internet access for research centers and promotes IS. It has been involved in the interconnection of RNRT (the National Network for Research and Technology) with the PTT ISDN Networks and the Internet. It offers videotex access to the databases of the Tunisian Press Agency. IRSIT focuses on the following IS aspects: telematics, multimedia, network interconnection, decision support systems for the industry and man-machine communication (automatic document translation, natural language translation). Potential applications of speech synthesis from Arab script are on-going in Tunis Air and some banks.

• An action plan is on-going since mid-1997 relevant with the Y2K problem. Under the Secretary of State for Informatics, it has been constituted a National Commission that aims to the sectors of Administration, Finance, Health, Transportation, Telecommunications and Industry. A cabinet meeting has taken place very recently, in August 20^th 1999, under the presidency of the President of Tunisia in order to examine the progress made up to date for the Y2K compliance program. During this meeting it has been decided to intensify the efforts in order to be within the deadlines, to mobilize all human resources, especially within the enterprises and to stimulate the Evaluation Committee to continue its work of supervising the adopted solutions.

• The area of electronic commerce is rapidly growing in Tunisia. For this purpose a national commission for electronic trade, the CNCE, has been created. This commission was charged to study issues pertaining e-commerce and study the ways of its implementation and the resulting IS benefits. In May 1999, a cabinet meeting took place in order to examine electronic commerce aspects. It was reviewed the outcome of works of the CNCE. The following measures were taken:
  • Revision of the procedures related to the implementation of external trade in order to promote export using the Internet while streamlining the activities of the electronic trade operators.
  • Launching pilot projects of virtual shopping sites.
  • Implementing an awareness and training strategy through the holding of periodical study days on electronic trade in order to assess the evolution of this sector and follow the latest developments.
  • Adapting the national telecommunications network to the requirements of electronic commerce through the increase of bandwidth and redundant backbones so as to ensure fluidity and rapidity of data transmission while working concurrently to develop the transportation and rapid post services as to ensure the highest quality of services.

CNCE has set up six projects of legal texts to reorganize e-commerce in Tunisia. These projects are related to different aspects such as: legal protection of data banks, review of the fiscal journal, the legal protection and recognition of electronic signatures.

E-commerce network activity is planned between Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria and USA.

 

2. Promotional activities

1. October 1998 An International conference - AFRICOM '98 was held in Tunis last October. Organized by the National School of Information Sciences (ENSI), the National Center of Informatics (CNI), the Internet Agent of Tunisia (ATI), the National Telecommunications Office (Tunisie Telecom), the Central Bank of Tunisia (BCT), the International Soft Company (ISC) and the Institute of Scientific Research in Informatics and Telecommunications (IRSIT), the conference focused on global networking in the developing countries and the critical infrastructures for the expansion of the Information Society. A lot of important IT topics were examined, such as: advances in multimedia networking, convergence of computers, communication and electronic commerce, web development, real time communication over the Internet, network design and management, satellite and mobile communications, global networking strategies.

2. May 1999 In early May 1999, a virtual shop was launched that sells hardware and software to firms and private individuals. The National Electronic Commerce Committee of Tunisia (CNCE), set up in November 1997, was responsible to develop the trade through the Internet. The aforementioned cybershop is the result of a pilot project planned by CNCE. In mid-May the President of the Tunisian Republic Mr. Zine El Abidine Ben Ali presided over a cabinet meeting in order to review the National Committee's achievements, giving emphasis to the field of electronic commerce.

3. May 1999 A four-day international fair (12-15/5/1999), known as Infonet '99, was held in the Manifestations Park and Center of International Commerce. It was organized by the Society of International Fairs of Tunis and supported by the Ministry of Communications, SEI, SERST, and UTICA (Syndicale Nationale de l' Informatique et de la Bureautique). Solutions were solutions for engineering automation and management, telecommunications development and consulting services.

4. May 1999 In late May 1999, the Chiefs of Arab Enterprises Institute organised an E-Commerce Seminar. The importance of this new type of service for further development of the Tunisian economy as well as the necessity for the Tunisian enterprises to build web markets were stressed the most. The imprint of the made endeavors for preparation to enter to this new IS world was clear when the Minister of Commerce, Mr. Mondher Zna?di, referred to the augmentation of investments in the telecommunications sector and network modernisations. The Ministry is also preparing a project that will permit the dematerialization of documents by exploiting data exchange systems.

5. June 1999 An Information Day was held in Tunis Hilton Hotel, on June 1, 1999 which covered the new telecommunication technologies for voice/data integration, value added services for the new public networks and the new network architectures.

6. June 1999 On June 3, 1999, a kick-off press conference about the ESIS II initiative was given in Oriental Palace Hotel, Tunis. IS issues and the importance that the European Commission places on the development of the Information Society were presented.

7. June 1999 A seminar on " EDI and the electronic commerce: stakes and interests for the Tunisian economy " was held in Gammarth on 24-25 June 1999, organized under the aegis of the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Communications, 3S2I (Computer Engineering).

8. June 1999 A two-day seminar (29-30 June 1999) entitled "IT convergence 99" was held in Tunis covering topics of IT convergence, voice data, voice over IP and multimedia. It was co-organised by the Tunisian Systel and US-based Lucent Technologies.

3. Call for projects

• Tunisia's medical sector is being enriched through a collaboration between Tunisia and Italy in the field of telemedicine. One of the first objectives of this collaboration is the connection of Habib - Thameur hospital to Shared network, enabling a remote cooperation with other sanitary establishments. The Shared network, supported by Italian and other European agencies, was created for the promotion of telemedicine and is currently comprised of fifteen interconnected hospitals
• A lot of secondary schools are now connected to the Internet and the pupils' preparation for Internet utilization, regardless of the field of study, is imperative. In this context, the National Institute of Office Automation and Microinformatics (INBMI) will start an introductory cycle (June 14, 1999 - July 17, 1999) in order to familiarize the pupils with the IS world. The first phase of INBMI's initiative will take place for the cities of Tunis, l' Ariana, Le Kef, Zaghouan, Bizerte, Nabeul, Beja, Jendouba, Siliana and Ben Arous.
• Data-processing: kick-off of the operation "caravan 2000" (19/07/99). The Department of the Secretary of State to the data-processing has given the kick-off of the operation "Caravan 2000". This operation aims to optimize conditions of success for the passage to the year 2000 of automated systems to the breast of enterprises of the private sector, particularly the small and medium enterprises (PME).