Tunisie Telecom (TT) has started a two-year rollout of fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) infrastructure with a view to providing customer fixed broadband speeds of up to 300Mbps via VDSL Super Vectoring, the operator’s CEO Nizar Bouguila revealed in an interview with Tunisie Haut Debit. The official said that the system had already been deployed in some areas, and marketing would begin in the next two months. Regarding a possible future upgrade to G.fast technology, which also uses the existing copper infrastructure for last-mile connections, Mr Bouguila noted that such a development was still in the planning stage, though a deployment was pencilled-in for the end of the year, with a launch anticipated in early 2018. When pressed on the company’s approach to over-the-top (OTT) services, meanwhile, the official said that TT respects net neutrality, despite the negative impact of OTT services on its business and the potentially warping effect such providers have on the sector. Mr Bouguila lamented that OTT providers were able to compete in the Tunisian market without complying with any local regulations or paying any taxes but added, however, that: ‘this problem has already been raised at the level of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and must be solved at an international level’.
Responding to questions on the operator’s 4G network, the official explained that TT’s 4G network is already available in almost all governorates, and the operator will be expanding coverage into rural areas very soon.