Tunisia’s Ministry of Communication Technologies reportedly launched a call for tenders for 5G operating licences, with the aim of launching commercial 5G services in some form as early as November this year.
According to the Ecofin news agency, the ministry said that each successful applicant will get 5 MHz of duplexed spectrum in the 700 MHz, and 100 MHz of TDD spectrum in the 3.5 GHz band for 5G usage. The report added that three 20 MHz blocks will be available at the request of operators, and other 5G frequency bands will be released in later phases.
Each 5G licence will be good for 15 years. The ministry has not yet revealed how much telcos will have to fork out for the new licence.
Tunisia’s three mobile operators – Tunisie Telecom, Orange Tunisie and Ooredoo Tunisia – as well as other interested parties, including MVNOs and ISPs, will be able to submit their tenders from now until September, when the licence winners will be announced. After that, commercial service launches can start in November, the report said, although the scale of such launches is likely to be limited.
That said, Tunisian telcos have been making moves to be ready when 5G licences become available. Last year, Ooredoo contracted Nokia to upgrade its network RANs in Tunisia to be 5G-ready.
The Communication Technologies Ministry first revealed its 5G roadmap in March. That roadmap – which has been in the works since May 2023 – was officially greenlighted in June by the government, which sees 5G as a key component in its overall digital transformation strategy.
According to the National Telecommunications Authority (INTT), as of the end of February 2024, there were 16.2 million mobile subscriptions in Tunisia, which works out to a 136.5% penetration rate. There are also 11.5 million mobile internet subscribers (or 97.2% penetration).
About 90.8% of Tunisians use mobile phones, 65% own smartphones, 72% use fixed internet, and 88% are active on social media, all of which has contributed to a surge in data demand that INTT said underlines the necessity of rolling out 5G.