July 1999

Tunisia Master report

I. General background

1. General Telecom Policy

The business environment in Tunisia is improving from year to year. The reforms implemented during the last decade allow the country to:

• Reach investment grade since 1994.
• Be ranked second most competitive country in Africa in 1998.

This positioning has been achieved, because the economic fundamentals have improved with:

• 4.5% GDP growth in real terms during the last ten years.
• 6.7% exports growth of goods and services for the same period, supported by noticeable diversification of the exported products.
• A budget deficit continuously being monitored, hence contributing to the reinforcement of national savings.
• An inflation under control, which favours moderate wage increases.
• An external debt generating a bearable debt service not exceeding 17% of exports receipts.
• A stabilised employment rate since 1994.

The above mentioned conditions resulted from the legal and institutional framework being favourable towards businesses; however, the private initiative requires more efforts to be made.

A significant growth has been observed during the last few years, favouring the manufacturing sector. In particular work requiring personnel, capable of producing quality products and complying with production and delivery time constraint benefits from the advantage of proximity and free access to the EU market Tunisia is enjoying. More specifically, this is the case for the telecommunications and computer sectors.

The information highway is seen by President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali as one of the main roads that could lead Tunisia's economy to greater efficiency and better prepare the country's children to meet tomorrow's challenges using the advantages offered by new information technologies. The President also wants Tunisia's business community to aggressively seek the benefits of electronic commerce.

The development of communications and information infrastructure in Tunisia has been seen at the highest political level as a current main priority.

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 expected to be invested in telecommunications.

2. Institutional structures in charges of the regulatory issues

2.1 Ministries in charge of the telecommunication issues

The Ministry of Communications (MOC) continues to act as the regulatory entity and is still ultimately responsible for the development of Tunisia's telecommunications infrastructure.

2.2 National regulatory authorities

The authority responsible for the development of Tunisia’s telecommunications infrastructure is the Ministry of Communications (MOC).

The Office National des Telecommunications (Tunisie Telecom) controls all the activities relative with the domain of the telecommunications. This authority is active in the following tasks:

• Creation, exploitation, maintenance and extension of all the public telecommunication resources (in particular telephone networks, data networks and telex).
• Promotion of new telecommunication services with the installation of the necessary equipment and adaptation to new technologies.
• Contribution in the development of scientific research and studies in the area of the telecommunications
• Application of the conventions and treaties ( WTO, international and regional ) signed from Tunisia
• Promotion of the co-operation between the national institutes and the international & foreign technical organisations

2.3 Frequencies allocation authorities

The Office National de la Telediffusion assures the correct creation, exploitation, maintenance and extension of all the means concerning radio and television transmissions. Other responsibilities include:

• Control of the reception quality for the radio & television programmes
• Provide guidance for the studies and research relative with the radio and television transmissions
• Promotion of the co-operation between the national institutes and the international & foreign technical organisations
• Promotion of the Value Added Service for television transmissions

2.4 Consultative councils

• Office National de la Telediffusion

Mission:

• Assure the correct creation, exploitation, maintenance and extension of all the means concerning radio and television transmissions
• Control of the reception quality for the radio & television programmes
• Provide guidance for the studies and research relative with the radio and television transmissions
• Promotion of the co-operation between the national institutes and the international & foreign technical organisations
• Promotion of the Value Added Service for television transmissions

• Office National des Telecommunications (Tunisie Telecom)

Mission:

• Control all the activities relative with the domain of the telecommunications
• Creation, exploitation, maintenance and extension of all the public telecommunication resources (in particular telephone networks, data networks and telex).
• Promotion of new telecommunication services with the installation of the necessary equipment and adaptation to new technologies.
• Contribution in the development of scientific research and studies in the area of the telecommunications
• Application of the conventions and treaties ( WTO, international and regional ) signed from Tunisia
• Promotion of the co-operation between the national institutes and the international & foreign technical organisations

2.5 Public telecommunication operators

The public telecommunications operator and sole supplier of basic telecommunications services is the Office National Des Telecommunications, also called Tunisie Telecom. The government has charged the Office National Des Telecommunications with developing an advanced and pervasive network and also given it a wide range of public responsibilities, such as to contribute to the development of scientific research in the area of telecommunications. Liberalisation of the sector is being discussed to occur from the year 2003 and onwards.

3. International relationships and agreements

With Alcatel, Ericsson and Nortel having local production facilities in Tunisia, projects for digitisation of the network are getting strong pushes. Tunisie Telecom makes extensive use of microwave radio links in its domestic transmission network and for communications with its immediate neighbours, Algeria and Libya. For international communications, Tunisia relies on satellite networks and is also connected to the SEA-ME-WE-2 submarine fiber optic cable with a landing site in Bizerte. Tunisia is a member of ARABSAT, INMARSAT, EUTELSAT and INTELSAT.

In February of 1997, Tunisia signed WTO Basic Telecommunications Services Agreement. Tunisia committed itself to market access and national treatment for:

• telex and packet-switched data services as of January 1^st, 1999
• mobile telephone, paging, teleconferencing and frame relay as of January 1^st, 2000
• local voice telephony as of January 1^st, 2003

4. Regulatory framework

4.1 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).

4.2 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.

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).

4.3 Key legislative measures

4.4 Issues

4.4.1 Liberalisation

The telecommunications market in Tunisia has been liberalised 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.

4.4.2 Licensing

Mobile Communication Services

Tunisie Telecom used to operate an Ericsson installed NMT-450 analog cellular network that supported approximately 10,000 subscribers. The network consisted of five base stations situated at Bourknine, Bouficha, Sousse, El Jem, and Sfax, covering two-thirds of Tunisia, ranging from Tunis to Sfax with a radius of 50 to 60 kilometers around each of the base stations. The number of subscribers for cellular telephones rose from 50 when it was introduced in 1985 to 2,269 in 1993. In 1991, PTT expanded the mobile telephone network by 100% to accommodate additional subscribers. The cost of cellular phone subscriber equipment has come down steadily over the past five years, but was still high in 1994 at 3,500 TD (US$3,850). Calling charges were three times that of local fixed telephone service.

In September 1997, Alcatel was awarded a contract for the supply and installation of a GSM cellular network to be operated by Tunisie Telecom. The GSM network will support 35,000 subscribers in the greater Tunis area, and will eventually be expanded to serve 100,000 subscribers nation-wide. A trial GSM network supplied by Nortel / Matra that supported 500 subscribers was recently deactivated.

Leased Lines Services

Leased Lines are fairly available in Tunisia due to the continuous process of modernisation of the telecommunications infrastructure. For the digital links, their tariffs vary according to the destination as Tunisie Telecom is dividing the world into six zones. Links for neighbouring countries inside the co-operation of North African countries or «Etehad Magharebe,» especially Libya and Algeria are about one quarter of the rates to other Arab countries. Links to Morocco, and other European countries in the Mediterranean are 50% more and links to the rest of Europe are 75% more.

X.25 Services

In November 1991, PTT introduced "Tunipac," a packet-switched data transmission network with the x-25 transmission standard (DPS 2500 with Alcatel-CIT of France), which can accommodate up to 1,545 ports. "Tunipac" grew from fifty subscribers in November 1991 to 1,800 subscribers by June 1992, when most of PTT's data service clientele were transferred from the public telephone (circuit-switched) network to the packet-switched network, thereby providing more reliable and efficient service.

ISDN Services

Tunisie Telecom has been experimenting with the digital network for integrated services, the commercial name for ISDN network since April 1997. An experimental network was installed to give bandwidth on demand for 300 institutional users. This network, connected to Germany, is working with the European Standards, 64 Kbps per B channel and 16 Kbps per D channel. Several users have used the network to do video conferencing with France where they have strong business relations.

After the success of the experimental network, there is a project currently going on to install an access network to cover most of major cities in Tunisia. Currently, the network covers 4 major cities (Tunis, Sfax, Sousse, Bizerte and Nabuel) and offers access in variety of packages. There is a general feeling in Tunisia that the service is over priced and thus prices are expected to be reduced by 10% on the average for both the installation and monthly subscription fees.

Internet Services

Tunisia is an Internet host site registered with the top-level domain name system (Internet's Domain Name System). The Institute Regional Des Sciences Informatiques et Technologiques (IRSIT) located in Tunis, Tunisia, has offered full Internet Protocol (IP) Internet connectivity since 1991, over the X.25 packet switched network Tunipac to EUnet in Europe based in Amsterdam. On December 1993, the connection to Amsterdam was established via a 19.2 Kilobits per second (Kbps) leased line. Bitnet is accessible through EARN (European Academic Research Network, the European Bitnet Network).

There is one Bitnet node in Tunisia, also operated by IRSIT. IRSIT also offers access via Unix-to-Unix Copy Protocol (UUCP) and dial-up IP to users with no IP connectivity. In December 1994, there were 16 full IP sites in Tunisia and about 1000 electronic mail users (UUCP and dialup IP). Of the 16 IP sites, 4 were commercial, 4 academic and 8 non-academic sites. Internet users in Tunisia had access to E-mail, Telnet, FTP, and Gopher, but not to the World Wide Web, as it required more bandwidth than what was available then.

In 1993, IRSIT was awarded a contract from the Secretary of State for Scientific Research and Technology in the Prime Minister's Office to build a national research network for Tunisia ("Reseau National de Recherche de Tunisie" or RNRT). The project resulted in interconnection of more than 50 educational institutes around Tunisia. In addition, IRSIT was contracted by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in October 1994 to provide Internet access for non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and thereby to most of the cities in Tunisia. IRSIT was the only agency in charge of Internet activities in Tunisia till 1996 when the National Office of Telecommunications took over this service offering from IRSIT.

Tunisian Agency for Internet (ATI) was established in April 1996 as a public company with Tunisie Telecom owning 51 percent of its shares and private investors owning the rest. ATI is a service provider for value-added services in telecommunications and it plays the role of the national operator for the Internet backbone in Tunisia and manager of the .tn domain.

ATI provides Internet services for governmental agencies and NGOs in Tunisia in addition to 2 commercial providers (Global Net and Planet Tunisie) and some focal points to provide Internet services to others. IRSIT is connected to ATI and provides direct connectivity for research institutes and for the computation center of the Tunisia University, El Khawarizemi. El Khawarizemi provides Internet access to higher education institutes in Tunisia in addition to acting as an access point for the university campus in Tunis. Commercial providers serve the individuals in addition to private organizations including private universities.

ATI is connected to the Internet via 2 fiber links. The first link goes to Telecom Italia via 6 Mbps, 3 E1 links that is upgraded by a new E1 every 3 months according to the contractual agreement between ATI and Telecom Italia. Telecom Italia in turn is connected to the Internet backbone via 78 Mbps link from Teleglobe of Canada. The other link is a 1Mbps link leased from Global One to the US backbone. Although ATI is not over committed in bandwidth, access is somehow slow due to the over-commitment of Telecom Italia.

Internet access is available via a local call across the whole country with a monthly subscription rate of around 30 DT (Current exchange rate for DT Vs $US is about 0.9DT) for residential use and 50 DT for business use. There was an estimated 5,500 Internet users in mid '98 and by the end of the year the estimations were raised to about 10,000. The majority, if not all, are research centers, education institutions, health institutions, governmental institutions and ministries. Private companies are connected to the Internet and the push for increased home use is now on. A 64 kbps from ATI costs around 1400 DT/month. For multiples of 64, the costs are multiplied by .9 till speeds of full E1.

VSAT Services

There is no national plan for the very small aperture terminal (VSAT) communications. Every case is being dealt with separately. The user has to obtain licensing from three different ministries (Telecommunications, Defense and Interior) and to bring its own equipment. There is the case of British Petroleum Company that obtained licensing for use of VSAT between its locations in Tunisia and the headquarters in Britain.

However, Tunisians feel VSAT is not critical in Tunisia due to the high population density and the small size of the country. These factors make ISDN and digital links more viable for them than satellite technology.

4.4.3 Quality of Service

At the end of 1996, Tunisia had an estimated installed base of 560,000 main lines, giving it a telephone density of approximately 6 percent. As part of Tunisia's 8^th Development Plan, which covered the 1992-1996 time frame, Tunisie Telecom expanded the telecom network to the rural eastern half of the country and began upgrading existing switches and exchanges to digital technology.

In the 9^th Development Plan (1997-2001), Tunisie Telecom is undertaking a variety of projects to further upgrade and expand its telecommunications infrastructure that could total upwards of US$1 billion. Currently there are around 720,000 main lines in Tunisia, with projects in the 9^th Development Plan to add one million new lines, and installation of new telephone exchanges to serve additional 450,000 subscribers. By the year 2001, Tunisie Telecom hopes to increase Tunisia's overall telephone density to 10 percent.

5. Information Society Policies

5.1 Umbrella Policies

5.2 IS Application Areas

5.2.1 Government (national, regional and local)

5.2.2 Education

Education, especially higher education, is a hot topic in Tunisia as the case with most of the developing countries. Tunisian officials perceive higher education as an asset for Tunisia and one of the means for catching up with the developed world.

According to a 1995 UNDP report, Tunisia has one scientific technician per 2,000 inhabitants, a figure equal to that of Argentina and Mexico, and which represents one half that of Portugal or Spain. This number is expected to grow as Tunisia is planning during its IXth Economic Development Plan to increase the number of technological university graduates by 300% to reach 4,050 by 2001/2002 from a modest 1,600 in 1996/1997.

Thus, a particular attention is given to scientific and technical courses of study and to vocational training. Alternate work training and self-designed training programs are available, to enable Tunisia to offer the skills businesses are looking for semiskilled and skilled technicians who can adapt easily to technological change. A vast program intended to quadruple training capacity over 7 years should raise the trainee graduation rate from 15,000 to 60,000.

Private Universities

Private universities have been operating in Tunisia since mid 80’s but till now have not been accredited by the Ministry of Higher Education. Nevertheless, there is a large portion of students who go to private education due to the limited number of seats in the public schools. Students need to finish their study abroad or else get employed by private institutes.

Arab University of Sciences (UAS)

A private university composed of 6 colleges: languages and translation, tourism, engineering, commerce and management, journalism and mass communication, and law. Linked with universities in France and Canada, Quebec, where professors are brought in for short periods to give lectures in various topics or students go to finish their graduate studies. The university already investigated the possibility of the use of video conferencing but did not carry on with the project due to the large capital required. Also their information infrastructure is not the most up-to-date and their connectivity to the Internet depends on a single dialup account.

Universite Libre de Tunis (INTAC)

Another private university though much bigger in scale than UAS. Students are estimated to be around 1900, about 200 of them are studying informatics. Again INTAC is linked with Franco-phone universities in France and Quebec. Although INTAC has investigated the possibility of the use of the remote education to enable their students to get their lectures without the need to host the professors, lack of infrastructure at affordable prices makes it more economic to invite the professors than using conferencing. The university is interested in presenting courses for professional development as it was the primary activity of the founder and the dean, specially that for IT developers.

Public Universities

Public universities are supported by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research. An initial approach with the minister was not very promising as he declared that Tunisia is currently undertaking a study about Distance Education as a whole. The study of the project named «MultiMedia» is expected to be completed within 6 months and until its completion it is not likely to consider any projects.

However, during a visit later to the Ecole National des Sciences de l’informatique (ENSI) of the Universite des Sciences des techniques et de Medecine de Tunis, the Dean, Dr. Farouk Kamoun showed interest in the project, and promised to get the permission of the Minister to participate.

ENSI is the specialized college for graduation of IT students, with 350 students studying for degrees of masters and doctorate. The computation center, El Kawarezmi, of University of Tunis showed interest to participate through ENSI.

5.2.3 Other

Organizations working in the IT business are good candidates for the project as they posses the know-how in the technological aspects related to the project. This will minimize the time needed to build a team capable of supporting the equipment that will reflect in the costs of implementation. Also, most organizations working in the IT area are becoming more involved in professional training regarding it as a promising areas. They have already institutionalized training as a separate business unit with high potential of growth.

However, cooperating with an organization in the area of IT will be limit, on the long run, the potential of delivering a variety of courses on the network. Also, the capacity of training in the IT organizations is less, compared to an educational institute.

Tunisia is currently undertaking a «Total Re-formation» program funded by the European Union in order to increase the competitiveness of the various organizations in anticipation of application of the partnership agreement between Tunisia and WTO. Organizations are entitled to have full refund of the expenses incurred for training of their staff members in any of the programs certified by the Ministry of Labour and Formation. All organizations in Tunisia pay 2 percent of their total annual wages to the government whether they are using this facility or not. Thus, training is very viable and blooming in Tunisia at the moment.

Institut Regional des Sciences Informatiques et Technologiques (IRSIT)

IRSIT, is considered as a pioneer in IT in Tunisia and it started the introduction of the Internet in 1991. Even after the establishment of ATI, IRSIT continued to work as a service provider for the research institutes through the Reseau National Recherche Technologie (RNRT). Currently, IRSIT is heavily involved in projects related to distance learning specially through low speed links, through a combination of CDs and online tutoring.

 

II On-going developments

1. On-going changes in the regulatory framework

1.1 Telecommunication liberalisation and new fields of developments (wireless local loop, Internet,…)

Tunisie Telecom GSM

Launched in March 1998, the Tunisian GSM mobile phone 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. Tunisian companies and engineers built 85% of the GSM network.

Internet

The Tunisian Government has done a great deal to develop Internet access and boost the number of users.

Government action includes:

• Internet subscription charges and phone call costs were reduced by over 50% in May 1998 and an additional 30% in March 1999, with special rates for family use.
• A national fund was set up to help develop Tunisian Websites.
• The creation of Internet public spaces called PUBLINET.

Promotional activities accompanying these actions included:

• Internet awareness seminars and conferences
• Training programs on Internet technologies
• Special Radio and TV programs to introduce Tunisian families to Internet.

The number of Internet subscribers, which was 111 in late 1996, has now (June 1999) reached 15,000. Thus we can estimate that there are 60,000 end users. The aim is to reach 30,000 Internet subscribers by end 1999 and 100,000 accounts in the year 2000.

1.2 New laws/measures under preparation

Electronic Commerce in Tunisia

The Tunisian Government has paid special attention to electronic commerce and a National Commission for Electronic Commerce and EDI (CNCE) was set up in November 1997.

This commission, made up of several working groups, was given the task of setting up electronic commerce strategy and infrastructure in Tunisia. These working groups study the various aspects of electronic commerce (legal, commercial, financial, security...).

Two reports that include the Commission's recommendations were submitted to the government in March 1998 and in November 1998.

Six pilot projects were launched and put into operation in May 1999. They are a set of virtual stores offering a wide range of Tunisian products, such as crafts, goods, clothing, foodstuffs, tourism packages, hotel reservations, etc.

During a cabinet meeting held in mid May 1999, major decisions aimed at boosting electronic commerce in Tunisia were taken. They include:

• Revision of procedures connected with external trade with a view to boosting exports via the Internet network and facilitating the action of electronic commerce operators.
• Launching of pilot projects that will open virtual shopping centres to export tourist products, craft work certain finished products, and agricultural and industrial goods.
• Implementing of a "strategy of awareness and training", via the organisation of periodic study days on electronic commerce.
• Further developing the national communications network with a view to adapting it to the demands of electronic exchange via information networks as regards to fluidity and speed of data transmission, while simultaneously working to develop transport and express mail services.
• Putting the finishing touches to the legal framework regulating this activity so that Tunisian law will be in tune with this new mode of commercial transaction, particularly as regards to legalisation of the electronic means of identification (digital signature and certification) and breaches of trust.
• Creation of a permanent ministerial committee, supported by a technical commission of experts and specialists, to guarantee permanent follow-up of these recommendations and ensure co-ordination among all participants.

EDI projects are being studied in various sectors such as banking, textiles and telecommunications. One of the EDI main projects is the "Single Batch" project aimed at facilitating foreign trade procedure by setting up an EDI server centre to allow various agents (trade organisations, customs, banks, forwards etc.) to exchange foreign commerce operations documents. Moreover, a Web/EDI interface will permit importers, exporters and forwarders to carry out foreign commerce operations via the Internet network without needing expertise in EDI.