Tunisiana Reshapes the Tunisian Telecom Market
7 May 2012
Read by 1398 persons
Things are changing in the Tunisian telecommunications sector... Mobile phone operator Tunisiana has just caught up on the delay it had accumulated compared to its competitors in the third-generation telephony (3G) segment.
The Tunisian subsidiary of the Qatari operator Qtel officially won the fixed and mobile third-generation telecommunications license on Friday, the subject of an international call for tenders launched last February by the Tunisian government.
The envelope containing the new financial offer presented by the market leader in mobile telephony in the country was opened Friday morning during a press conference held at the headquarters of the Ministry of Information and Communication Technologies. It appears that Tunisiana offered 155 million dinars (MD) for third-generation mobile services and 50 MD for fixed services, for a total amount of 205 MD. "This amount meets the expectations of the State. The license is granted," said the Minister, Mongi Marzoug, at the opening of the envelope.
According to him, the amount put on the table by Tunisiana even exceeds the minimum price set by the Tunisian state for the granting of the new license, which was 125 MD (100 MD for 3G mobile services and 25 MD for fixed services), or the equivalent of 191 million dinars, at the current exchange rate.
The minister also recalled that the first financial offer proposed by Tunisiana, on April 20, was deemed below the ministry's estimates, which had called on the operator to submit a new offer before May 2. The operator, which arrived on the Tunisian market in 2002, had then proposed a total amount of 161 million dinars.
Creation of 2,156 direct and indirect jobs...
Third entrant into the 3G activity segment after Orange-Tunisia, a subsidiary of France Telecom, and the historic operator Tunisie Telecom, Tunisiana has no time to lose. "The 3G network can be set up in a few months and should be operational before Ramadan. Fixed telephony should, for its part, be put into service around 2014," revealed Kenneth Campbell, CEO of the operator, who now has ten days to deposit the bank guarantee for its new financial offer and finalize the license application procedures.
In a press release published shortly after the announcement of the approval of its new financial offer, Tunisiana specified that it intends to invest heavily to launch major job-creating investments in all regions of the country. "The amount allocated to the acquisition of this license is also only the beginning of a long investment process on the technical, social and human levels," specifies the operator, whose investments since 2002 amount to nearly 1.253 billion dinars.
Specifically, Tunisiana promises the creation of 2,156 direct and indirect jobs within 5 years in addition to the existing 4,203 jobs and says it is ready to guarantee job creation in inland regions, particularly with the establishment of technical centers to transfer technological value to these areas in great difficulty.
The operator, which expects a mobile coverage rate reaching 70% of the population after 5 years and mobile internet speeds in line with international best practices, has also indicated that it plans to make massive infrastructure investments for a total envelope of more than one billion dinars over the period 2012-2018.
Battle over high-speed mobile
Thanks to its new license, which will allow it to market a wide range of telecommunications services ranging from 2nd and 3rd generation mobile telephony to high-speed mobile Internet, including data transmission, multimedia content, mobile television and videophony, Tunisiana is now well equipped to compete with its two competitors who had already preceded it in this very promising activity segment.
Given the mobile phone penetration rate in Tunisia, which currently stands at 115%, the battle between the three operators will indeed be fought through the mastery of high-speed mobile offers. And there, it will take imagination and, above all, a great commercial appetite.
To nibble away at the market share of the historic operator Tunisie Telecom and Orange-Tunisia, already well established in this segment, Tunisiana will not only try to attract customers from its two competitors according to the commercial logic of "churn" (winning over dissatisfied customers or those looking for new services).
The operator will also focus on innovation. "By investing in fixed and 3G technologies, Tunisiana intends to make its network even more efficient by offering even more innovative services to its subscribers (...). This new technology will be a real engine for entrepreneurship and growth. And to do so, Tunisiana is committed to setting up various funds dedicated to innovation, new technologies and each market segment, including SMEs, which will be particularly supported," underlines the operator in its press release.
The war between the three operators is not about to end... So much the better for their customers, who will ultimately benefit.
Wahid Chedly.
Kapitalis.com
Published on May 7, 2012.
Posted online on May 7, 2012.
The Tunisian subsidiary of the Qatari operator Qtel officially won the fixed and mobile third-generation telecommunications license on Friday, the subject of an international call for tenders launched last February by the Tunisian government.
The envelope containing the new financial offer presented by the market leader in mobile telephony in the country was opened Friday morning during a press conference held at the headquarters of the Ministry of Information and Communication Technologies. It appears that Tunisiana offered 155 million dinars (MD) for third-generation mobile services and 50 MD for fixed services, for a total amount of 205 MD. "This amount meets the expectations of the State. The license is granted," said the Minister, Mongi Marzoug, at the opening of the envelope.
According to him, the amount put on the table by Tunisiana even exceeds the minimum price set by the Tunisian state for the granting of the new license, which was 125 MD (100 MD for 3G mobile services and 25 MD for fixed services), or the equivalent of 191 million dinars, at the current exchange rate.
The minister also recalled that the first financial offer proposed by Tunisiana, on April 20, was deemed below the ministry's estimates, which had called on the operator to submit a new offer before May 2. The operator, which arrived on the Tunisian market in 2002, had then proposed a total amount of 161 million dinars.
Creation of 2,156 direct and indirect jobs...
Third entrant into the 3G activity segment after Orange-Tunisia, a subsidiary of France Telecom, and the historic operator Tunisie Telecom, Tunisiana has no time to lose. "The 3G network can be set up in a few months and should be operational before Ramadan. Fixed telephony should, for its part, be put into service around 2014," revealed Kenneth Campbell, CEO of the operator, who now has ten days to deposit the bank guarantee for its new financial offer and finalize the license application procedures.
In a press release published shortly after the announcement of the approval of its new financial offer, Tunisiana specified that it intends to invest heavily to launch major job-creating investments in all regions of the country. "The amount allocated to the acquisition of this license is also only the beginning of a long investment process on the technical, social and human levels," specifies the operator, whose investments since 2002 amount to nearly 1.253 billion dinars.
Specifically, Tunisiana promises the creation of 2,156 direct and indirect jobs within 5 years in addition to the existing 4,203 jobs and says it is ready to guarantee job creation in inland regions, particularly with the establishment of technical centers to transfer technological value to these areas in great difficulty.
The operator, which expects a mobile coverage rate reaching 70% of the population after 5 years and mobile internet speeds in line with international best practices, has also indicated that it plans to make massive infrastructure investments for a total envelope of more than one billion dinars over the period 2012-2018.
Battle over high-speed mobile
Thanks to its new license, which will allow it to market a wide range of telecommunications services ranging from 2nd and 3rd generation mobile telephony to high-speed mobile Internet, including data transmission, multimedia content, mobile television and videophony, Tunisiana is now well equipped to compete with its two competitors who had already preceded it in this very promising activity segment.
Given the mobile phone penetration rate in Tunisia, which currently stands at 115%, the battle between the three operators will indeed be fought through the mastery of high-speed mobile offers. And there, it will take imagination and, above all, a great commercial appetite.
To nibble away at the market share of the historic operator Tunisie Telecom and Orange-Tunisia, already well established in this segment, Tunisiana will not only try to attract customers from its two competitors according to the commercial logic of "churn" (winning over dissatisfied customers or those looking for new services).
The operator will also focus on innovation. "By investing in fixed and 3G technologies, Tunisiana intends to make its network even more efficient by offering even more innovative services to its subscribers (...). This new technology will be a real engine for entrepreneurship and growth. And to do so, Tunisiana is committed to setting up various funds dedicated to innovation, new technologies and each market segment, including SMEs, which will be particularly supported," underlines the operator in its press release.
The war between the three operators is not about to end... So much the better for their customers, who will ultimately benefit.
Wahid Chedly.
Kapitalis.com
Published on May 7, 2012.
Posted online on May 7, 2012.
