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The Minister of Post and Telecommunications, Sid-Ali Zerrouki.
The question of mobile coverage on road axes was again raised this Monday from the wilaya of El-Bayadh. The Minister of Post and Telecommunications, Sid-Ali Zerrouki, enjoined mobile operators on Tuesday to increase their investments to cover the roads, ensuring strict compliance with specifications and operating licenses.
“A lack, or even an absence of coverage of the mobile network was found on several road axes by certain operators, which is unacceptable. All these operators must invest in mobile phone coverage of roads as stipulated in specifications and the operating license, “he said.
The Minister announced that warnings will be sent to failing operators by the La Poste regulatory authority and electronic communications, “so that they strengthen the coverage on the roads”. This measure is considered all the more necessary as the resurgence of road accidents makes it essential the possibility of quickly reporting claims.
In this wake, a meeting is scheduled for next week with mobile operators, after a first meeting held with the regulatory authority to assess these failures observed on the roads. The Minister also said that field teams have recently been sent to control the coverage of the main roads and highways, including the East-West highway and the North-South Trans-Saharan.
Some regions of the southern country require urgent strengthening of the network, he said. According to him, “correcting these shortcomings” is now a requirement set to operators, failing which they will be exposed to the sanctions provided for in the specifications and operating licenses.
In the same vein, Sid-Ali Zerrouki recalled that operators are required to generalize the global service and to work their programs on time. The displayed goal is that “all citizens, including those in landlocked areas, can benefit from mobile coverage”.
Regarding the postal sector, the Minister announced the preparation, as part of the complementary plan of 2025, of the acquisition of 1,000 ATM (DAB) which will be installed through all the wilayas of the country. Of this total, 600 aircraft should be received and put into service before the end of the current year or at the start of next year.
All of these new DABs will be equipped with withdrawal and deposit features. This modernization is part of the strategy of the sector aimed at unclogging post offices, promoting electronic payments and bringing the services of citizens together.
A 100 % digital competition
The Minister also spoke on connection projects to the fiber optic network. He emphasized the fact that the ministry’s plan aims to generalize this technology throughout the national territory and to complete the operation in early 2027, with the ambition to permanently eliminate copper cables. He also highlighted “the competitive offers from Algeria Telecom which allowed Algeria to become the first country to offer 1.5 GBPS at very low prices”.
The national competition is announced “towards the end of next September,” confirmed the same official. And to specify that “it will take place exclusively via smartphones, tablets or computers, in order to allow candidates to participate anywhere, in compliance with the principle of equal opportunities and with all the guarantees of transparency and equity”.
It should be noted that the minister went to the wilaya of Naâma yesterday where he reiterated his watchword: improve the quality of the services and accelerate the digital transition.
Visiting Naâma, Minister Sid-Ali Zerrouki inspected the recently rehabilitated post center, where he attended two presentations on sector indicators and current projects. The wilaya has 57 post offices (including 2 mobiles), 28 DAB and 46,512 Subscriptions to the fixed internet, including 7,753 via fiber optic.
The Minister insisted on improving reception in post office offices and the development of electronic payment methods to reduce pressure on counters. He announced the upcoming launch of new cards by Algeria Post.
At the Mobilis agency, he reminded operators their coverage obligations, in particular on the road axes, pointing persistent failures. In Mecheria, he noted a low adhesion to fiber optics despite sufficient capacities, calling for strengthening communication and accelerating the modernization of the copper network.