The Algerian Ministry of Post and Telecommunications announced last week that the number of households connected to fiber optic home (FTTH) has reached 1.5 million. This represents 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 that the Algerian government is leading in conjunction with the historic operator Algérie Télécom. Investments have been made in particular in the modernization of the existing copper access network and in the gradual conversion of subscribers from the old xDSL copper network to FTTH technology, as well as in the expansion of the network. For example, 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 fiber 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  ,” the ministry explained in a statement.

The Algerian government is continuing its strategy of generalizing optical fiber 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. In addition, 44.26 million mobile Internet subscribers use 4G.

FTTH should make it easier for populations to adopt 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, has anticipated this demand and plans to diversify its activities towards these segments as part of its 2024-2028 strategy. Ultimately, the public company is targeting “  everything as a service (XaaS)  ”.

Despite this growth, the number of households connected to the Internet at home, all technologies combined, 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 is still low. It concerns 20.3% of all households. In addition, only 25.6% of households connected to the Internet are connected by fiber.

It should be remembered that FTTH could be slowed down by several challenges such as the cost of the service. According to the ICT Development Index 2024 of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the price of fixed internet gigabit in Algeria represents 3.9% of gross national income (GNI) per capita while this figure is supposed to be below 2% for the service to be considered affordable. Fixed internet costs more than mobile internet, whose gigabit price represents 2.4% of GNI per capita.

Source: Agency EcoFin