23 August 2019

Mauritania’s telecom sector faces a number of hurdles, though efforts continue to be made to address them with financial support from the government as well as the World Bank and European Investment Bank.

The report by market research and data house Research & Markets said efforts have been focused on implementing appropriate regulatory measures and promoting the further penetration of fixed-line broadband services, by improving the national backbone network.

That ensures connectivity to international telecom cables and facilitates operator access to infrastructure.

However, despite these efforts, it found that Mauritel has maintained “a virtual monopoly” in the fixed-line sector and there is little stimulus for new market entrants.

Penetration of fixed telephony and broadband penetration is very low and is expected to remain so in coming years.

Most voice and data services are carried over the mobile networks maintained by Mauritel, Mattel and Chinguitel and the report said population penetration of 3G is relatively high.

However, as yet there are few developments in LTE and as a consequence mobile broadband access speeds are low, placing a break on the potential for mobile commerce and related applications.

The report further found that the regulator, l’Autorité de Régulation, has struggled to enforce good quality of service among these operators, despite fines being imposed.

This represents a significant challenge, given the importance of mobile networks for basic telecom services.