Thursday, May 05, 2011

Algeria - Changes in the structure of the regulator might enable growth of telecoms markets

[tmc] According to a new report from Pyramid Research, the Algerian Telecom market is an attractive market that still has yet to realize its potential. The report states that it will take a restructured l'Autorite de Regulation des Postes et des Telecommunications (ARPT) and less control by the government to allow foreign investment to reach Algerian Telecom operators.

The report on Algeria states that political changes may benefit the telecom sector. The report comes with a precise profile of the country's telecommunications, media and technology sectors that is based on proprietary data from Pyramid's research in the market. A detailed competitive analysis is provided in the report of both the fixed and mobile sectors. It also tracks the market shares of technologies and services and monitors the introduction and spread of new technologies.

Just like its Arab neighbors, Algeria also expects to see many changes in 2011. One of the reasons why Algeria is behind its neighbors in the telecom sector is due to the delay of rolling out 3G technology.

In a release, Majd Hosn, associate research analyst at Pyramid said that, “Algeria's 2010 telecom revenue CAGR between 2010 and 2015 is 7.1 percent, an indication of healthy growth mainly spurred by a strong increase in revenues for broadband Internet and mobile data. Pyramid forecasts a total market revenue of $6.58 billion by 2015. If Algeria fails to invest in new technology and telecom infrastructure development projects, we expect to see them fall short of our 7.1 percent growth forecast through 2015.”

The sale of Djezzy to MTN (News - Alert) last year was blocked by the Algerian government and they hit Orascom (owners of Djezzy) with $600 million in back taxes and did not give them the access to import any equipment until all back taxes were paid, which strongly hindered operations for Algeria's largest provider.

Hosn added that, “The ARPT will be a key body in implementing change and making consumers' best interests a priority. The operators in Algeria have the most to gain from the changes being demanded by the Algerian people.”

Pyramid says that Telecom Success in Algeria will be Determined by Political Change

No comments: