Tunisia: Ooredoo connects to the PEACE optical fiber submarine cable to strengthen its international connectivity
February 5th 2024
Demand for high-speed connectivity continues to increase in Tunisia in a context of accelerated digital transformation. Telecom operators are increasing initiatives to strengthen their international infrastructure and meet this demand.
The telecoms company Ooredoo Tunisia is now connected to the Ifriqya submarine fiber optic cable, an offshoot of the PEACE cable. This was revealed by Hatem Mestiri, technical director of the mobile network operator, in a publication on LinkedIn on Thursday, February 1. The infrastructure is expected to come online in March 2024 and provide capacity of up to 3 Tb/s.
It was in October 2022 that Ooredoo Tunisia signed a partnership agreement with the telecoms solutions provider PCCW Global to connect to the PEACE cable. The construction of a new system was planned from the connection unit located on the high seas to the Tunisian coast. Said system is expected to be exclusively owned and operated by Ooredoo.
The initiative is expected to enable Ooredoo to diversify and strengthen its international connectivity to support growing traffic and the ever-increasing demand for high-speed connectivity. In October 2023, the telecoms operator controlled 46.1% of national mobile data traffic which amounted to 87,227 Tb, according to data from the National Telecommunications Authority (INT).
The new infrastructure should also allow Ooredoo Tunisia to strengthen the quality of telecoms services in order to meet the demand of its subscribers and attract new ones. The company had 6.7 million mobile subscribers at the end of October 2023 for a market share of 41%, according to INT. It also controls 13.9% of the fixed telephone market and 42% of the mobile Internet market.
Source: Agence Ecofin Back