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Tunisia reveals its need for six to seven international submarine fibre optic cables to reinforce its national telecoms infrastructure. The Tunisian government desires to accelerate the development of telecommunications networks in the country and facilitate the commercial deployment of 5G. To achieve this goal, it is banking on investments from telecom operators.
Kamel Saadaoui, chief of staff of the Ministry of Technologies and Communication, stated in an interview with Agence Tunis Afrique Presse that Tunisia had identified this necessity for international submarine fibre optic cables. This initiative seeks to diversify partners in the field of submarine cables and overcome potential problems, given the high costs associated with this type of infrastructure. Until now, the historic operator Tunisie Telecom maintained the monopoly in this area.
Currently, Tunisia is served by several international fiber optic submarine cables, such as SEA-ME-WE 4, Keltra, Hannibal, Didon and, more recently, Ifriqiya operated by Ooredoo. In April 2023, Orange also declared the commissioning of an underwater cable connecting Tunisia to France, scheduled for the end of 2025.
Strengthening the national telecoms infrastructure will assist in improving the quality and coverage of telecoms services, in order to meet the growing demand for high-speed connectivity from the population and businesses. According to statistics from the National Telecommunications Authority (INT), the average consumed international bandwidth capacity rose from 782 gigabits per second in the third quarter of 2021 to 980 Gb/s in the third quarter of 2023. During the same period, the capacity equipped went from 1,210 Gb/s to 1,710 Gb/s.
By investing in new submarine fiber optic cables, Tunisia seeks to strengthen its telecommunications infrastructure and support its digital transformation. These developments will improve telecom services and encourage the adoption of advanced technologies such as 5G.
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