Data Usage in Estonia is Growing Thanks to Improved Coverage and 5G

According to DataReportal’s key insights on digital adoption and usage in Estonia as of early 2024: Estonia had 1.24 million internet users at the beginning of 2024, with an internet penetration rate of 93.7 percent. In January 2024, Estonia had 1.04 million social media users, representing 78.7 percent of the total population. There were 1.92 million active cellular mobile connections in Estonia in early 2024, equating to 145.7 percent of the total population.

Data from GSMA Intelligence shows that many people use more than one mobile connection—such as one for personal use and another for work—making it common for mobile connection figures to exceed the total population count. GSMA Intelligence also reports that the number of mobile connections in Estonia increased by 17 thousand (0.9 percent) from the start of 2023 to the start of 2024.

Investment in Estonia’s telecom market has concentrated on upgrading fixed-line infrastructure and deploying 5G services. Fixed broadband subscribers are gradually transitioning from DSL to fiber, with legacy copper networks being replaced.

The mobile network operators (MNOs) Telia, Elisa, and Tele2 have established comprehensive LTE infrastructure and have recently directed investments towards 5G. Several 5G trials have been conducted, but commercial service launches have been hindered by a lack of available spectrum. The regulatory body began addressing this issue in May 2022 by awarding a 3.5GHz concession to Elisa. A second license will provide sufficient spectrum for national coverage by 2022. Delays in spectrum allocation were partly due to challenges in offering services in areas bordering Russia.

Progressive government policies on broadband infrastructure and an active regulatory regime have also contributed to Estonia achieving one of the highest broadband penetration rates in Europe. Broadband is available through various fixed-line and wireless technologies, including ADSL2+, FttP, cable, Wi-Fi, and WiMAX. Elisa’s consolidation with the main cable company Starman in April 2017 has enabled it to offer a more comprehensive suite of bundled services, enhancing its competitiveness with Telia.

2G is on 900 and 1800 MHz, 3G is on 900 and 2100 MHz with good coverage, 4G/LTE has started with all providers on 800, 1800 and 2600 MHz (Bands 3, 7, 20) plus 2100 and 2300 MHz (Bands 1 and 30) on Tele2 all over the country and is generally available for prepaid. 5G has started to be available on some high-data postpaid plans from Telia since November 2020 and on Elisa since June 2022.

Telia Eesti is part of Swedish telecom giant Telia Company, Telia has the best overall coverage in Estonia and focuses heavily on 4G/LTE services.

The major mobile operator in Estonia is Telia and it has a market share of over forty percent. They provide the largest network coverage consisting of 4G and 5G services available in most major cities across the country. Although Telia’s plans are mainly costlier than rivals, they provide more data and speed.

Ericsson and Telia have launched the Baltic region's first enterprise 5G private network, Ericsson Private 5G. This private cellular network became operational in early May at Ericsson’s supply site in Tallinn, Estonia.

Ericsson highlights that the 5G private network’s advanced capabilities, including reliability, predictable latency, security, and speed, enable various use cases such as asset condition monitoring and management, computer vision, digital twins, collaborative robotics, and precise indoor positioning.

The Tallinn supply site is strategically significant to Ericsson’s global supply chain, accounting for nearly half of the company’s new product introductions (NPIs). These NPIs require extensive research and development to ensure the products are relevant, competitive, and scalable, which is crucial for their successful market introduction.

Telia Eesti switched off of its 3G network in September 2023 this has enabled Telia to focus on the build-out of its 4G and 5G networks instead. The company currently has 150 5G base stations in Tallinn.

Elisa is the number two mobile operator in Estonia, owning about 30% of the market. These firms often give the same kind of network coverage that we find in Telia at reasonable prices. Elisa is a little bit slower compared to Telia, but both speeds are sufficient for most users. Elisa Group’s Estonian arm offers competitive rates, especially for family plans and long-term contracts. The company is rapidly deploying 5G in major cities.

With regards to spectrum, in May 2022 Elisa won 130 MHz of spectrum for which it paid EUR 7.2 million. Then in November 2022, it won 2x10 MHz of 700 MHz spectrum which laid the foundation for it's 5G coverage. Finally, in May 2023 Elisa won 800 MHz of 26 GHz spectrum for EUR 1.63 million. It hasn't commercially used the spectrum yet.

Tele2 Eesti is a subsidiary of Tele2 Group, Tele2 boasts the fastest mobile broadband speeds in the country. It has invested significantly in 4G and emerging 5G networks.Tele2 has the smallest share of approximately 20% in the Estonian mobile market. They are the cheapest, but their network coverage is only half of what Telia’s and Elisa’s are. Tele2 is are also among the three operators, their speeds being the slowest but satisfactory for basic internet access.

Back in 2022, Tele2 won the 700 MHz spectrum auction. It already had 3.5 GHz licenses and was also using 2300 MHz band for 5G. According to their press release, the added 700 MHz frequency band would allow them, in addition to better coverage, to offer services that do not require large data volumes, such as Internet of Things (IoT) services. 

Alongside rivals Telia and Elisa, Tele2 obtained 800MHz of spectrum in the 26GHz band back in 2023. It spent EUR1.6 million (US$1.7 million) on 24.7-25.5 GHz despite the fact that there are currently no devices commercially available in Estonia capable of operating via the 26GHz band.

Tele2 previously revealed that Nokia is its primary partner for 5G core networks in the standalone era, with deployment expected to have started during 2021. Nokia said it will deploy standalone 5G core and voice-over-5G technology for Tele2 operations in Sweden, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.

The Baltic countries climbed closer to the top of the global mobile data usage chart: Latvia #3, Lithuania #7 and Estonia #11 (of 39 countries) https://t.co/dJO6QUwOAx pic.twitter.com/2A6m4KiAST

— Tefficient 🚥 (@tefficient) July 8, 2024

Tefficient's latest report identified that the data usage in Estonia has been growing along with other Baltic countries as can be seen in the chart above.

Related Posts: 

• Connectivity Technology Blog: First Cross-Border Drone Flight Over Mobile Network
• Operator Watch Blog - Telia: Largest Operator in Nordic & Baltic Region
• Operator Watch Blog: Elisa claims "first in world to launch commercial 5G" - technical details and controversy 

How will Green Networks Evolve: Elisa's Distributed Energy Storage (DES) Case

At Mobile Europe's Telco to Techco 2024, Jukka-Pekka Salmenkaita, VP of AI & Special Projects at Elisa presented a talk looking at their Distributed Energy Storage (DES) solution. His talk is embedded below:

You can learn more about DES and download a whitepaper from their website here.

Related Posts: 

• Operator Watch Blog: 6 Mobile Operators in the Global 100 Ranking of the World’s Most Sustainable Companies
• Operator Watch Blog: Finland is on top of the world with 5G and Data Consumption
• Operator Watch Blog: The Mobile Spectrum Stars of Europe
• The 3G4G Blog - Finland: A country with only Unlimited Data Plans
• Operator Watch Blog: Elisa claims "first in world to launch commercial 5G" - technical details and controversy 

North Korea Finally Adopts 4G/LTE

Following years of continued isolationism and economic under-achievement, North Korea languishes near the bottom of the world’s telecom maturity index alongside Afghanistan and Turkmenistan (who also happen to be struggling under repressive political regimes). To make matters worse, in 2022 North Korea achieved the lowest score in the world for economic freedom. It barely needs saying that developing a healthy and prosperous telecommunications sector isn’t exactly high on the dictatorship’s agenda.

Mobile penetration is estimated to have eased up slightly to have reached 19% in 2021, yet the high cost of ownership coupled with strict censorship makes mobile communications the exclusive domain of senior government officials and diplomats.

Data from GSMA Intelligence shows that there were 7.51 million cellular mobile connections in North Korea at the start of 2024. However, note that many people around the world make use of more than one mobile connection – for example, they might have one connection for personal use, and another one for work – so it’s not unusual for mobile connection figures to significantly exceed figures for total population.

GSMA Intelligence’s numbers indicate that mobile connections in North Korea were equivalent to 28.7 percent of the total population in January 2024. The number of mobile connections in North Korea increased by 206 thousand (+2.8 percent) between the start of 2023 and the start of 2024.

For those citizens living close to China, it has been possible to obtain Chinese handsets and SIM cards, and to connect to towers (illegally) located just across the border. While this offers access to the outside world and at much lower prices than the state-controlled offerings, the risks are high including steep fines and the possibility of jail time.

North Korea has been slightly more effective in building an IT sector and a nascent digital economy on the back of a concerted effort to grow a sizeable, well-trained IT workforce. But even here, its capabilities have been directed more towards nefarious activities such as cybercrime and hacking into Western countries’ computer systems. North Korea’s determination to put itself offside with the rest of the world in pursuit of its ideology can only lead to tighter controls on communications inside and outside of the country.

North Korea has a population of 26.2 million and currently has three 3G network operators. Koryolink's network is 3G-only on 2100 MHz and they claim to cover more 90% of the population by their 3G network that can't be independently verfied. Koryolink is officially a joint venture between Egyptian Orascom Investment Holding and the North Korean state. However the Government of North Korea refused permission to transfer profits from North Korea to Orascom and even started Kang Song Net and Byol to compete with Koryolink. As result Orascom reported, that it effectively has lost control over Koryolink's activities some years ago.

North Korea launched the third mobile service provider called Byol in 2015. In the early days, the government-owned company provided wired Internet connections to foreigners residing in Pyongyang. But its 3G mobile service is now used by officials in the party, the government and the military as well as general citizens. The authorities set up the third telecom company, after Kang Song Net, to keep Koryolink in check. While Koryolink offers services both to foreigners and local citizens, Kang Song Net and Byol can only be used by North Korean residents. 

GSMA Intelligence data showed Byol closed 2023 with 7.1 million 3G connections and Koryolink 400,000. The research unit estimated only 28.3 per cent of the population has a mobile connection, all prepaid and only a quarter with smartphones. In 2023, the annual growth rate of mobile connections was less than 3 per cent. Smartphone connections grew nearly 12 per cent to 1.9 million.

North Korea’s two-tier telephone network is well documented and classifies two types of subscribers: Domestic users can call other domestic subscribers but not place international calls or access the internet, while international users can make calls to anywhere in the world except domestic numbers and access just about any website except those on the state intranet. This firewall between domestic and international users is one of several methods used to control the flow of information. What is less known is that on Koryolink there is a third level of subscriber: the “special user.”

The special users obviously the top rank of the leadership. These users are able to make and receive calls on specially equipped handsets that includes a domestic encryption system that prevents eavesdropping by outsiders. Huawei, one of the world’s biggest telecom infrastructure suppliers, provided much of the network equipment and was tasked with verifying that the encryption system did not introduce instability into the network.

However more cell phones does not necessarily mean more freedom of information and communication. In the years following the launch, even greater security measures were developed to expand control systems beyond the network level to the handset level as well. For instance, smartphones were built to block the installation of unapproved apps, and software was installed to take random screenshots to record what people are doing on their phones. This security system one of the most surveilled cellular environments in the world.

North Korean authorities have started signing up 4G subscribers after the country upgraded its network with second-hand telecommunications equipment bought mainly from China's Huawei.

According to local news site Daily NK, authorities have completed the construction of 4G cell towers in some areas of the country – with the goal of constructing over 80% of planned cell towers by 2025. Currently, 4G services are available mostly in the central districts of the capital, Pyongyang.

North Macedonia is a 5G Leader within Central and Eastern European Countries

The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia was renamed as the Republic of North Macedonia in February 2019. The country has been a European Union (EU) candidate since 2005 with accession discussions facing delays over the years. As part of the EU pre-accession process, North Macedonia has built closer economic ties with the Union which accounts for 77.5% of Macedonia’s exports and just over half of its imports. Closer regulatory and administrative ties with European Commission (EC) institutions have done much to develop the telecom sector and prepare the market for the competitive environment encouraged in the EU.

Macedonia’s mobile market is served by three mobile operators, MakTel (Makedonski Telekom), A1 Macedonia (known as One.Vip before a rebranding exercise in September 2019) and more recently Mtel. A1 Macedonia was formed from the merger of the local business units of Telekom Slovenije and Telekom Austria. In May 2016 they also merged with sister company Blizoo, and so has been able to provide a full suite of converged services. Mtel, a subsidiary of Telekom Srbija, launched mobile services at the end of 2022, a move that broke the former duopoly. The operators are increasingly focused on expanding their 5G networks, seeking stronger coverage across North Macedonia’s high value urban areas. Mobile data services are also becoming increasingly important following investments in LTE network rollouts and in upgrades to LTE-A technology.

MakTel or Makedonski Telekom is the dominant fixed and mobile line operator in the market of North Macedonia; it also operates as an Internet service provider, and as integrated telecommunications and entertainment services provider. Offering communication services and entertainment contents ensuring its future revenues, the company is also improving the competitiveness in North Macedonia, as well as growth in mobile and broadband services on national level.

The company has been active in the mobile telephone business since September 1996, when it was introduced as MobiMak when it was the first GSM mobile operator in the Republic of Macedonia. It was bought by Deutsche Telekom and in 2006 changed its name to Т-Mobile. In 2015 it changed its name to Makedonski Telekom, synchronising itself with other Deutsche Telekom group members. The network covers 99.9% of the population and over 98.5% of the territory of North Macedonia.

Makedonski was the first telecommunications company in the country to introduce 4G LTE, GPRS, EDGE and various converged internet and mobile services.

With 82% 5G coverage across the country and gigabit 5G speeds in most towns and an award by @Ookla, @telekomMK leads the tech race in North Macedonia 🇲🇰.

Read the interview to its Chief Technical and IT Officer Maja Milosavlevska Naumovska 👇

— ETNOAssociation (@ETNOAssociation) September 22, 2023

Makedonski Telekom has expanded its 5G footprint to 26 cities, since first launching its 5G network in February of last year. Its 5G service is available in several cities, including its capital Skopje and the wider area. Other areas include Stip, Veles, Kavadarci, Negotino, Sveti Nikole, Bitola, Prilep, Krushevo, Ohrid, Struga, Resen, Strumica, Radovish, Gevgelija, and Dojran. Makedonski also revealed that it has installed 900 new NB-IoT (narrowband IoT) enabled base stations for M2M communication in the country, with capacity of the new modernized network up by 70 percent.

A1 describe themselves as the leading mobile network operator and number two in the fixed-line market in North Macedonia. They say that have the fastest mobile network in the country. On top of this, the mobile network is becoming even faster by launching 5G. Close to 1,000 employees working under the ”A1 Makedonija” brand are constantly dedicated to providing the best user experience to more than 1.2 million customers.

Through its own network, A1 Macedonia provides its customers complete coverage with 4G/LTE mobile data all over the country and 4G+ in urban areas and coverage ratio of 99.8 % of the total population. A1 customers, as well as roaming visitors, enjoy the mobile network that provides fastest mobile internet which is confirmed by the independent regulatory the Agency of Electronic Communications. By the end of 2022, A1 started building its 5G network and accomplishing coverage of 56,6 % of the total population. Tourist centres, such as Ohrid Lake, are covered by LTE network and A1 Macedonia will continue investing in its modernisation.

MTEL has great ambitions in the North Macedonian market and also plans to offer to its customers other telecommunications services and digital services in the period to come. Telekom Srbija is already offering a wide range of telecommunications services in the field of mobile and fixed telephony, televisions and the Internet for more than 11 million customers in three regional markets – Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro.

In its report on 'Sunsetting 3G to Aid 5G Progress in Central and Eastern Europe', Ookla said:

Our data shows that in Q2 2023, North Macedonia achieved the highest median 5G download speed in Central and Eastern Europe at 317.91 Mbps. Bulgaria was the only other country in the region that topped 200 Mbps (233.63 Mbps). It’s worth noting that North Macedonia not only excels in terms of median 5G speed but also when looking at 90th and 10th percentile results. For example, 5G download speeds in the 90th percentile reached 788.30 Mbps, while speeds in the 10th percentile clocked in at 90.90 Mbps. Makedonski Telekom and A1 Macedonia launched their 5G services with a combination of 4G frequencies using DSS before the 5G spectrum auction, with the regulator, AEK, awarding the licenses for frequencies in the 700 MHz and 3.6 GHz bands for 5G in July 2022. Makedonski Telekom invested over EUR 70 million in 2022 for network development. 

Given that North Macedonia had the fastest 5G among its peers, it isn’t surprising that its capital ranked first among regional capitals, with Skopje boasting a 475.92 Mbps median 5G download speed and a 59.94 5G upload speed in Q2 2023. 

The conditions of 5G licenses for Macedonian operators state that by the end of 2023, at least one Macedonian city should be covered with a 5G signal. But it is not only 5G that is achieving good performance. Skopje also ranked 25th on our Global Index City Speeds in July 2023, with a median mobile download speed of 96.79 Mbps, placing the city just behind Sofia in our rankings but ahead of some Western European capitals like Paris, Amsterdam, Lisbon, Berlin, Rome, and London.

Deutsche Telekom on the Role of AI in their Network

Deutsche Telekom has been actively promoting the role of Artificial Intelligence, both Predictive as well as Generative (GenAI), within their network. At FutureNet World 2024, Ahmed Hafez, VP Technology Strategy at Deutsche Telekom explained the role AI plays in their network. This Analysys Mason research note nicely summarises it as follows:

Deutsche Telekom’s (DT’s) Vice President of Technology Strategy, Ahmed Hafez, was forthcoming during a presentation at the event about the operator’s use of GenAI to improve employee productivity. Hafez said that DT had numerous GenAI-based use cases in production, including a coding assistant for developing test cases and an “FTTH roll-out chatbot” that helps contractors to adhere to regulation during fibre broadband installation. This chatbot uses retrieval augmented generation (RAG) based on information gathered from around 400 documents, each of which has about 900 pages, to respond to contractors’ questions and provide links to the relevant sections within these documents.

I’ve also used the 6-dimensional nature of networks as a reason why each use-case “cell” is a tiny part of the overall

Nice chart pic.twitter.com/GoUWVBu1yo

— Dean Bubley (@disruptivedean) April 16, 2024

The presentation from that is embedded below:

At the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2024, CEO Tim Höttges provided an insight into the ambition, the framework and governance of AI in Deutsche Telekom. His presentation is embedded below:

You can also read this article from Deutsche Telekom AGM 2024 where Tim Höttges talks a lot more about the use of AI in some 400 projects all across Deutsche Telekom. It is in turn helping optimize quality, bringing them closer to their customers, and enhancing productivity by up to 50% for routine tasks.

The adoption of AI within the networks is going to accelerate in the next few years and as 6G is billed as AI-native network, the ambition would be to have as little people interaction as possible and have most major tasks work autonomously.

Related Posts: 

• Telecoms Infrastructure Blog: Deutsche Telekom's Mini-Mast a.k.a. “Cell Tower To Go”
• Private Networks Technology Blog: Deutsche Telekom's "Campus network L" for EUROGATE's "Port-As-A-Service"
• Connectivity Technology Blog: Deutsche Telekom Demonstrates 12 Gbps on 5G Using 6 GHz Band
• Private Networks Technology Blog: Deutsche Telekom Helps Arburg Make Plastics Production Machines Smarter with 5G
• Telecoms Infrastructure Blog: FC Bayern and Deutsche Telekom bring 5G to the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany 

Tunisia is Ready to Launch 5G in 2024

Tunisia has one of the most sophisticated telecom infrastructures in North Africa. Penetration rates for mobile and internet services are among the highest in the region. A number of regulatory measures and infrastructure projects have been instituted in recent years as the government continues to extend broadband infrastructure to remote areas and develop a digital economy.

Supported by the Digital Tunisia 2020 program, the MNOs have built extensive LTE infrastructure, and have trialled 5G services, though commercial services are not expected to be launched before 2023.

The political events of 2021 have put into question the country’s economic recovery. Although the economy was severely impacted by the collapse of the tourism sector in 2020, it returned to growth in 2021. Nevertheless, there is high unemployment and emigration, as well as continuing economic pressure on households. These factors have in turn held back the potential for revenue growth in the telecom sector.

Operators Ooredoo and Orange Tunisie are also licensed as fixed-line operators and have launched DSL and FttP services. In addition, a dozen public and private ISPs compete in this sector, supported by a nationwide fibre backbone network and international access via submarine and terrestrial fibre.

There are three mobile network operators in Tunisia: Tunisie Télécom (TT), Ooredoo (formerly Tunisiana) and Orange Tunisie.

All 2G is on 900 and 1800 MHz, 3G in the populated areas on 2100 MHz up to HSDPA speed like in Europe, 4G/LTE started in 2016 in major towns on all three providers in 800 and 1800 MHz (B3, B20) and gives theoretical speeds of up to 150 Mbps.

In late June 2022, a Tunisie Telecom executive said that the operator is planning to shut down its 3G network and refarm its spectrum as its 3G users are rapidly migrating to 4G. The operator intended to launch VoLTE to allow it to transfer voice traffic from 3G to 4G. However, no timeline was given for the 3G network shutdown. Refarming 3G spectrum would allow Tunisie Telecom to improve the mobile experience of its 4G users.

The Tunis Afrique Press agency says that spectrum auction process is expected to take place between July and August of this year. Licenses will be awarded in September. 5G marketing is likely to be carried out soon after – in November.

A sectoral committee representing the National Telecommunications Authority (INTT) and the National Frequency Agency (ANF) was created in May 2023 to prepare for the transition. The ministry claims it has consulted with relevant stakeholders with experience in other countries.

During a press conference organized to reveal the roadmap for the launch of 5G, the ministry indicated that the call for tenders for operators would be launched at the end of April after validation by the Council of Ministers.

Three licenses will be granted to operators; Tunisia Telecom ; Ooredoo Tunisia and Orange Tunisia, which each consist of 5MHz duplexed in the 700MHz band and 100MHz in the 3.5GHz band as entry tickets.

In a second phase, each operator will also have 60MHz TDD in the 2.6GHz band.

As for the millimeter band; 26GHz, the ministry specified that it would later announce the parts of the spectrum which will be allocated to operators.

The licenses extend for a period of fifteen years each and should be awarded in September 2024. Thus around November, operators will have the opportunity to launch the marketing of 5G offers.

A representative of the INTT explained that there are 16 million SIM cards in Tunisia, and that Tunisians' data consumption increased fivefold between 2016 and 2023, from 600,000 to 1.7 million.

About 90.8% of Tunisians use mobile phones, 65% own smartphones, 72% use fixed internet, and 88% are active on social media, figures that are said to underline the need for 5G rollout. on.

According to the OpenSignal October 2022 report Tunisia’s mobile network experience continues to be hard fought, with only three out of nine awards being won outright (the same number seen in the last report). Ooredoo still has the largest haul of awards, successfully defending its outright win for Core Consistent Quality, while being a joint winner in six categories — including all three experiential awards (Video Experience, Games Experience and Voice App Experience) and both coverage awards (Availability and 4G Coverage Experience). Orange is a joint winner in five categories, including Upload Speed Experience where our users observed a three-way tie. Tunisie Telecom wins two awards outright (Download Speed Experience and Excellent Consistent Quality and is a joint winner for Video Experience (alongside Ooredoo) and Upload Speed Experience.

Ooredoo Tunisia leads the market with a 40.9% share as reported by the National Telecommunications Authority (INT). Moreover, the commercial deployment of 5G and 5.5G in North Africa is anticipated to boost Ooredoo's revenues.  

Ooredoo Group has announced a partnership with Nokia that will see its networks enhanced in Algeria and Tunisia, and forged an agreement with Huawei to adopt its technologies and wireless offerings, including 5G, in some of its MENA operating companies. In March 2023, the group inked a new partnership deal with Nokia to make its network 5G-ready in both Tunisia and Algeria. In Tunisia, Ooredoo began the first technology tests as early as December 2020.

Nokia will also upgrade the existing radio network for Ooredoo Tunisia and expand it with the addition of new radio sites. Upgrades will include deployment of Nokia’s AirScale portfolio, including base stations supporting multiple generations of radio technology from 2G, 3G and 4G to 5G; massive MIMO Adaptive Antennas for urban and wide-area coverage; dual-band Remote Radio Heads (RRH); and the AirScale indoor Radio (ASiR) small-cell service for seamless indoor coverage. 

Orange Tunisie is the smallest of the main operators. Last year they launched a project for the progressive solarization of their mobile network, in partnership with International Telecom Services (ITS.COM). The goal is to deploy solar panels on more than 1,000 sites, thereby reducing the operator's carbon footprint. This project aims to produce renewable energy to power Orange Tunisia's low-voltage radio stations, thus contributing to the country's energy transition.

Ultimately, Orange Tunisia's mobile network should reach a rate of 15% of renewable energy in its overall consumption, with the objective of reducing its carbon footprint by nearly 3,550 tonnes of CO2 equivalent by 2025. This project is part of Orange Tunisia's strategy in terms of social responsibility and ecological transition, in accordance with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

According to their website state-owned Tunisie Telecom has more than 6 million subscribers in fixed and mobile telephony. making it the largest operator in Tunisia’s growing telecoms market.

Tunisie Telecom (TT) is currently embarking on an ambitious all-optical network transformation program with longstanding strategy partner Huawei.

TT, as a No.1 service provider, is transforming to provide a high-quality home broadband experience

“ADSL technology is no longer meeting user high-speed requirements” asserts Oussama Samet, TT’s Chief Network Officer.

Samet, speaking to Telecoms.com at the recent Huawei Global Ultra-Broadband Forum held in Dubai, reported that TT held a 50% share in the county’s fixed broadband market, serving more than 1.3 million households with a mixture of xDSL and FTTH products. The days of copper-based broadband access in TT’s network are numbered, however.

Aside from rising traffic volumes and greater demand for high-quality connectivity, other drivers for TT’s all-optical transformation are increased use of cloud services, industry vertical digitalization and cloudification. The operator also wants to be prepared for the impact of 5G-Advanced on underlying networks.

By using existing civil works, TT is looking to extract as much cost‑efficiencies as possible in terms of FTTH rollout, service delivery and O&M. “This strategy has helped us double the number of homes passed with fiber by the end of 2023 and we’re on track to reach 500,000 households by 2025,” said Samet. “This will improve the average bandwidth to 30Mbit/s, and maybe up to 50Mbit/s, by the end of 2025 and greatly enhance the customer experience."

For more information on Tunisia's 5G plans please watch: 

Related Posts: 

• Operator Watch Blog: Would Tunisia Succeed in 2021 5G Rollout? 

The Status of Mobile Networks in Latin America

The Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) represents the voice of the mobile ecosystem with members including vendors, operators, academia and regulators. GSA has nine Executive Members, including Apple, Ericsson, Huawei, MediaTek, Nokia, Intel, Qualcomm, Samsung and ZTE. With a further 80+ Members and Associates, GSA draws its membership from across the global mobile ecosystem, including mobile operators, regulators, analyst firms, academia and an extensive vendor community spanning chipsets to devices, and network equipment to FWA and private mobile specialists. GSA is a Market Representation Partner in 3GPP and co-operates with other key organisations including ITU, GCF, CITEL, COAI, ETSI, GSMA, CEPT-ECC, ATU, and other regional regulatory bodies.

The first GSA report closely tracking the status of 4G and 5G network deployment in Latin America was published earlier this month. It uses the latest GSA data and draws on various GSA reports, including private mobile networks, to provide a comprehensive overview of the status of 4G and 5G roll-outs in the region. Quoting from the paper summary:

In recent years, Latin America has witnessed significant advancements in telecommunications technology, particularly in mobile networks. The proliferation of 4G LTE networks has transformed the digital landscape, enabling faster data speeds, enhanced connectivity and the widespread adoption of mobile broadband services across the region. Moreover, the advent of 5G technology promises to usher in a new era of connectivity, characterized by ultrafast speeds, low latency and greater security.

This report delves into various aspects of mobile network evolution including the status of LTE, the roll-out of 5G networks, advancements in LTE-Advanced, the emergence of 5G standalone infrastructure, the development of private networks and the switch-off of 2G and 3G technologies.

You can download the paper from this page here.

In this regional spotlight webinar, the GSA Research team was joined by senior representatives from telecom regulators, including Alejandro Navarrete, Head of the Radioelectric Spectrum Unit at IFT and ANATEL’s Deputy Superintendent of Granting and Resources, Mr Sidney Azeredo, to explore the challenges and opportunities for 5G in the region. During the webinar, the GSA Research team shared the latest data on:

• The status of LTE and 5G in the region
• Private Networks in LATAM
• Spectrum assignments, both recently completed and upcoming

Following the data snapshot is a roundtable discussion with regulators where the panel explores the market dynamics and what the future holds for 4G and 5G in their markets. The webinar is embedded below: