19 December 2007     

Tunisie Telecom selects Telecom Italia Sparkle for securing further IP growth

Tunisie Telecom recently announced an upgrade of its international IP transit connectivity with Seabone, Telecom Italia Sparkle Internet backbone, through the activation of a new 622 Mbit/s port in Palermo.

The move follows the completion of the Keltra-2 submarine cable connecting Tunisia and Italy with a new 10 Gbit/s highly performing system, which has reinforced the fruitful cooperation between the two Carriers.

"We are pleased to see our IP Transit service Seabone been again selected by a major operator such as Tunisie Telecom : this deal marks a further strengthening of Seabone leadership in MENA countries while also securing Tunisie Telecom's vast customer base, a highly performing access to worldwide contents" said Stefano Mazzitelli,. CEO of Telecom Italia Sparkle.

"Tunisie Telecom is proud to offer to its customers Seabone which is a fast, congestion-free and flexible IP transit service for carriers and ISPs; this will allow higher QoS and SLA to our professional customers" said Ahmed Mahjoub, CEO of Tunisie Telecom.

By finalizing this large opportunity in Tunisia, Telecom Italia Sparkle confirms its relevant role in the Mediterranean basin where Sicily is more and more becoming the de facto hub for all the Carriers willing to efficiently connect to the Global Internet and cater massive volumes of bandwidth to Europe and the US.

About Tunisie Telecom 
Tunisie Telecom is the Tunisian's leading provider of national and international telecommunications services and internet. In Tunisia, Tunisie Telecom serves more than 5,000,000 business and residential customers. Being a leader in the mobile telephony market with more than 4 million subscribers and 53% of market share, Tunisie Telecom is the only fixed-line telecommunications provider in Tunisia. Tunisia is among the best wired countries in the entire Mediterranean region. Tunisie Telecom, the incumbent telecom operator, is owned by the Tunisian state at 65%. The consortium of United Arab Emirates TECOM-DIG, a subsidiary of Dubai Holding owns 35 % of Tunisie Telecom' s capital. Tunisie Telecom operates a GSM network in Mauritania ("MATTEL").

About Telecom Italia Sparkle
Telecom Italia Sparkle SpA (Sparkle), a wholly owned subsidiary of Telecom Italia, was established on January 1st, 2003 with the objective of developing and consolidating the Italian Group's international wholesale business for voice, data and corporate services. It has nearly 900 employees, both in Italy and abroad, and, in 2006, it reported more than 2.0 billion euros in revenues. The headquarters are in Rome, network operation centers in Milan and Palermo, offices and subsidiaries in 20 countries worldwide. TI Sparkle is a full service provider, offering a complete range of solutions spanning voice services, IP transit services, bandwidth and managed data services for fixed-line and mobile operators, ISPs and, in synergy with Telecom Italia, for multinational corporations. TI Sparkle is also active in the consulting services business, aimed at carriers and financial institutions.