Algeria has opened a state-funded tender to extend mobile coverage to 3,000 low-density communities, its largest universal-service programme to date, as the government moves to close costly gaps in one of North Africa’s most developed mobile markets.
Telecom regulator ARPCE launched tender No. 02/2026 on September 7 to select one or more licensed mobile operators to provide coverage in rural and hard-to-reach areas, particularly settlements with fewer than 2,000 inhabitants.
Selected operators will have a maximum of 18 months to complete deployment. ARPCE’s public tender notice had not disclosed a bid-submission deadline as of September 10, meaning interested operators must consult the formal tender dossier for the closing date and detailed technical and financial requirements.
The programme is distinctive for both its scale and economics. The Algerian government says deployment will be financed by the state, effectively underwriting network expansion into areas where small populations and high infrastructure costs make standalone commercial returns less attractive.
It is more than twice the size of Algeria’s previous universal-service programme, which covered 1,400 low-density localities. Ooredoo Algeria secured roughly 87% of the communities awarded under that programme, with Djezzy taking the balance, giving both operators direct experience in state-backed rural deployment.
The tender comes despite Algeria already recording about 99.1% 4G population coverage in 2024. The apparent contradiction reflects the difference between population and geographic coverage: Algeria’s population is concentrated heavily in the north, while vast southern and interior areas remain expensive to serve.
Depending on final specifications, the programme could also generate contracts for radio equipment, telecom towers, fibre and microwave backhaul, off-grid power systems, civil works and network maintenance.
The economics are therefore as important as the coverage target. Algeria is using public funding to absorb part of the cost of extending networks into areas that operators would struggle to justify on commercial returns alone. That lowers the marginal cost of expansion for the winners while widening the market for mobile data, payments and digital services. The longer-term test will be whether that subsidy creates enough economic activity and usage to make these networks commercially sustainable once the initial state-backed rollout is complete.
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