ITU's Report Pays Tribute To Tunisia For Progress Made In ICTs

13 August 2007

According to the 2007 report of the International Telecommunications' Union (ITU) related to the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) which was released recently, Tunisia achieved a considerable progress in the field of information technologies.

Thus, Tunisia was the first African and Arab country to have been connected to the internet in 1991 and has the second largest online penetration on the continent.

While the growth of fixed telephone lines experienced a decline, the mobile telephone witnessed a nationwide upsurge following the granting of a second license to ORASCOM-Telecom (Tunisiana) in 2002.

Moreover, the mobile network covers practically all the population thanks to the introduction of a second telecommunication compagny in the market, which led to an important rise in the number of mobile telephone users that reached 64%.

The report also stresses that the various initiatives taken by the government seek to democratize access to ICTs.

Currently, Tunisian government is working, in cooperation with the World Bank, towards a digital economy, so that by 2011, it will have the same telecommunication equipment and infrastructure as developed countries

More:http://www.tunisiaonlinenews.com/august07/020807-1.htm