Tunisie Telecom: a $221 million loan from the EBRD for digital infrastructure
January 19th 2026
The incumbent operator Tunisie Telecom shares the national market with its private competitors Ooredoo and Orange. As of September 30, 2025, they had a combined subscriber base of 15.4 million mobile phone subscribers and 11.3 million mobile internet subscribers.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) announced last week a partnership with the Tunisian state-owned company, Tunisie Telecom. The latter will receive up to €190 million (approximately $221 million) in loans to support the development of its telecommunications infrastructure. This is in addition to an €11 million grant from the European Union (EU).
According to the EBRD, the loan will be disbursed in four tranches, with an initial commitment of €50 million. It will be used to upgrade Tunisie Telecom’s mobile access network from 4G to 5G, extend its fiber optic network, connect up to 200,000 households to fiber-to-the-home (FTTH), connect the country to the Medusa submarine cable, and modernize the transport network and core network. The financing will also cover targeted investments in energy efficiency and power generation.
The EU grant will support Tunisie Telecom’s investments in its core networks and cybersecurity, as well as technical assistance for a comprehensive transformation program aimed at modernizing the national operator and supporting its growth.
These investments come as Tunisie Telecom faces stiff competition in the national telecommunications market. According to data from the National Institute of Telecommunications (INT), the incumbent operator had 4.5 million mobile phone subscribers in Q3 2025, compared to 6.9 million for Ooredoo and 4 million for Orange. For mobile internet, the state-owned company had 3.36 million subscribers, compared to 4.85 million for Ooredoo and 3.08 million for Orange.
Tunisie Telecom, however, dominates the fixed-line telephony segment with 1.3 million subscriptions, compared to 404,000 for Ooredoo and 291,000 for Orange. The fixed internet (ADSL) segment has 551,000 subscribers, including 225,000 for the internet service provider Topnet, a Tunisie Telecom subsidiary. The operator itself had 102,000 subscribers.
The announced investments for the incumbent operator position it to improve the coverage and quality of its services, as well as to deploy new services. This will allow it to retain its current customers, attract new ones, and even increase the consumption of its services and, consequently, its revenue.
For example, the goal of connecting 200,000 households to fiber optics could add 96 million dinars (approximately $32.7 million) to the telecom operator’s annual revenue, based on the average revenue per user (ARPU) per month, which was around 40 dinars for fixed internet in the third quarter of 2025, according to the National Telecommunications Institute (INT). In the first nine months of the year, the company recorded total revenue of 921 million dinars, down from 1.48 billion dinars recorded during the same period in 2024.
A boost to digital transformation
The announced infrastructure investments can also support the national digital transformation as authorities rely on ICT to accelerate socio-economic development. For example, 138 projects are planned to accelerate the digital modernization of government over the period 2025–2026.
“Thanks to modernized digital infrastructure, better international connectivity and new technologies like 5G and fiber, we aim to improve services in education, health and smart cities, reduce the digital divide and boost the Tunisian digital economy,” said Lassaad Ben Dhiab (pictured, left), Director General of Tunisie Telecom.
Currently, Tunisia ranks 86th out of 193 countries in the United Nations eGovernment Development Index (EGDI). In 2024, the country recorded a score of 0.6935 out of 1, above the African and global averages, but a lower score of 0.5951 out of 1 on the Online Services Index (OSI), an EGDI indicator that measures the quality, reach, and diversity of online services offered by a government.
In terms of cybersecurity, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) ranks Tunisia in the third tier of its index. The organization explains that the country performs relatively well on technical and regulatory aspects, but needs to intensify its efforts in terms of organization, capacity building, and international cooperation.
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