Etisalat Tunisia announced it is gradually launching mobile services for third generation, which will provide faster speeds and the ability to load up to 42 megabytes per second. The service was launched this month and will cover up to 40 percent of the country. By the end of 2011, the services will cover up 80 percent and by 2012 all of Tunisia will be covered. Officials in the country said the new services put Tunisia in third place in Africa and 41st worldwide to apply the new technology. 3G technologies enable faster data transmission speeds and advanced multimedia access. Tunisia's three mobile services providers Etisalat Tunisia, Orange and Tunisiana are preparing to compete over the 3G market with a wide array of smart phones being introduced. Orange has already started marketing the iphone 4 for its customers after it received the license to operate 3G in the country. Orange reportedly paid 116 million dinars, the same number that Etisalat Tunisia paid to acquire its license. The third mobile company, Tunisiana, is now in the midst of installing and expanding its networks to operate 3G. BM
