Key Takeaways:
- Algeria has seen a remarkable growth of 2,730% in fibre optic home (FTTH) connections, reaching 1.5 million subscribers since November 2020.
- The expansion is part of a government-led FTTH generalization program in collaboration with Algérie Télécom.
- Despite the growth in FTTH, only 20.3% of households are connected to this technology.
The Algerian Ministry of Post and Telecommunications announced that the number of households connected to fibre optic home (FTTH) has reached 1.5 million, representing a growth of 2,730% compared to the 53,000 FTTH subscribers recorded in November 2020.
This growth has been facilitated by the FTTH generalization program led by the Algerian government in conjunction with Algérie Télécom. Investments have been made in modernizing the existing copper access network and gradually converting subscribers from the old xDSL copper network to FTTH technology, alongside the expansion of the network. Algérie Télécom has launched promotional offers for customers wishing to benefit from high speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second on request.
“Technically, FTTH has unique quality features, improving user experience and meeting user needs. By using optical fibre throughout the entire route, from the optical connection node to subscribers, it provides access to very high-speed Internet. In addition, this technology offers rapid responsiveness while avoiding electromagnetic interference,” stated the ministry in a statement.
The Algerian government is continuing its strategy of generalizing optical fibre despite the strong penetration of mobile Internet. According to data from the Regulatory Authority for Posts and Electronic Communications (ARPCE), Algeria had 48.85 million mobile Internet subscribers as of March 31, 2024, for a population estimated at 45.6 million by the World Bank. Additionally, 44.26 million mobile Internet subscribers use 4G.
FTTH is expected to facilitate the adoption of new bandwidth-intensive services such as video on demand, the Internet of Things (IoT), teleworking, and IPTV. Groupe Télécom Algérie, the parent company of Algérie Télécom, anticipates this demand and plans to diversify its activities toward these segments as part of its 2024-2028 strategy, ultimately targeting ‘everything as a service (XaaS).’
Despite this impressive growth, the total number of households connected to the Internet at home, across all technologies, stands at 5.8 million, while 7.4 million households were recorded in the country as of March 31. The adoption of FTTH in Algeria remains low, covering only 20.3% of all households. Furthermore, just 25.6% of households connected to the Internet are using fibre.
