ICT Country Profiles Country ICT

Mauritius Key indicators for Mauritius (2017) Africa World Fixed-telephone sub. per 100 inhab. 32.7 0.9 13.0 The Indian Ocean Island State is successfully Mobile-cellular sub. per 100 inhab. 145.4 74.4 103.6 leveraging ICT as a strategic pillar with one of Active mobile-broadband sub. per 100 inhab. 59.0 24.8 61.9 the most advanced digital economies in sub- 3G coverage (% of population) 96.0 62.7 87.9 Saharan Africa. LTE/WiMAX coverage (% of population) 93.0 28.4 76.3 Individuals using the Internet (%) 55.6 22.1 48.6 Mobile services: There are three mobile operators Households with a computer (%) 61.0 8.9 47.1 in the country. EMTEL was originally a joint venture Households with Internet access (%) 68.7 19.4 54.7 of the Luxembourg-based MILLICOM mobile group International bandwidth per Internet user (kbit/s) 137.0 11.2 76.6 and local firm Currimjee Jeewanjee and Co; the Fixed-broadband sub. per 100 inhab. 19.4 0.6 13.6 latter bought out the former’s shares in 2014. Fixed-broadband sub. by speed tiers, % distribution EMTEL was the first mobile operator in the southern -256 kbit/s to 2 Mbit/s 19.7 38.7 4.2 hemisphere when it launched in 1989. The second -2 to 10 Mbit/s 0.9 37.2 13.2 mobile operator, CELLPLUS, the mobile arm of the -equal to or above 10 Mbit/s 79.5 24.1 82.6 incumbent Mauritius Telecom (MT), entered the Note: Data in italics are ITU estimates. Source: ITU (as of June 2018). market in 1996. The last was MTML, a subsidiary of Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited, the State- Government policy: The Ministry of Technology, owned operator in the Indian cities of Mumbai Communication and Innovation has overall and New Delhi. It originally launched using CDMA responsibility for the sector, including strategies for technology and later deployed a GSM network in e-government and cybersecurity. The 2012 National 2011. Mauritius has near-ubiquitous coverage due Broadband Policy lays out the country’s vision for to its small land size and high population density. high-speed Internet access through 2020. Its overall In 2016, 95 per cent of households had mobile aim is to facilitate affordable and universal access telephones.301 Mauritius has been at the forefront of to broadband infrastructure and service to create mobile-broadband deployment in the region. EMTEL the opportunities for the country to grow as a launched the first 3G network in Africa in 2004, knowledge-based society. The five policy objectives followed by HSDPA in 2007 and LTE in 2012. The are (a) to achieve robust competition and, as a other mobile operators have also deployed 3G and result, maximize consumer welfare, innovation LTE networks. and investment; (b) to ensure efficient allocation and management of scarce resources, such as Fixed services: MT was privatized in 2000, when 40 spectrum, facilities (e.g. poles) and rights-of-way, per cent was sold to then-France Telecom (Orange). to encourage network upgrades and competitive It is the main provider of fixed-telephone services, entry; (c) to reform current universal service offering plain copper line service as well as bundled mechanisms to support universal deployment of service with television and/or Internet. In the broadband even in high-cost areas, and ensure that fixed-broadband market, MT offers ADSL as well as low-income Mauritians can afford broadband; (d) fibre-optic packages up to 200 Mbit/s. EMTEL also to support efforts to boost adoption and utilization offers fixed-telephone service and fixed-broadband of broadband; and (e) to facilitate reform to laws, with speeds up to 140 Mbit/s. Other ISPs offer policies, standards and incentives to maximize the fixed-broadband wireless and MT has also deployed benefits of broadband in sectors where Government free Wi-Fi hotspots in 350 locations around the influences significantly, such as public education, island. MT has an extensive national backbone health care and government operations. Targets network, and other operators have built out fibre include close to 100 per cent of households having routes with selected coverage areas. Mauritius was affordable access to download speeds of 100 Mbit/s, one of the earliest African nations to connect to as well as being able to use broadband to track undersea fibre-optic cable through SAFE in 2002. and manage their real-time energy consumption. In 2009, it connected to the Lower Indian Ocean The Information and Communications Technology Network (LION), linking Mauritius with Reunion and Authority (ICTA) is the national regulator for the Madagascar. In 2010, the Government implemented ICT sector as mandated under the Information and an open access policy at landing stations to ensure Communication Technologies Act of 2001, while non-discriminatory access by all operators. The the Postal Authority caters for the regulation of Mauritius IXP launched in 2015 and has a dozen postal and courier services in Mauritius under the members, including all of the main telecom providers Postal Services Act 2002. The Information and and ISPs operating in the country. Communication Technologies Act of 2001 provides for the regulation of the sector.

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