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Tunisia and Communications

Tunisia has entered the computer age and is already using the information highway. It is now part of the global village, where it intends to be an active player and more than a well-informed consumer. Its main achievements in space-related activities have been the utilization and operation of existing space systems, namely, space telecommunications, location and data collection, Earth observation and research and development.

For international telecommunications purposes and, in particular, for its telephony services, Tunisia possesses a terrestrial satellite communication station. This station, which is administered by Tunisia Télécom, can communicate with the satellites of the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (INTELSAT) and ARABSAT.

Since 1992, it has been possible for programmes broadcast on the national television channel, Canal 7, to be received in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East thanks to transmissions by the National Broadcasting Office via a satellite channel leased from the European Telecommunications Satellite Organization (EUTELSAT). In addition, Tunisia is located in a geographical area providing ideal cover for receiving several international channels. These are accessible to the public and parabolic aerials have now become a component of social life.

The National Broadcasting Office has, in cooperation with the Telecommunications Study and Research Centre, set up a project involving the operation of a network for the selective dissemination of multi-service data via the Eutelsat satellite. One of the applications is the transmission of meteorological data provided by the National Meteorological Institute.

With regard to search and rescue applications, Tunisia has since 1993 been a user member of the COSPAS-SARSAT International Search and Rescue Satellite System for tracking aircraft, vessels and land vehicles in distress. An operation designed to demonstrate this humanitarian application has been organized with a view to the introduction of a national satellite search and rescue system.

Exploiting the opportunities presented by satellites, Tunisia has, through the Ministry of Agriculture, been making use of these services to collect data for mapping, monitoring and evaluating natural resources. In this connection, a pilot remote-sensing project known as the Arid Zones of Tunisia (ARZOTU) experiment, which began in 1975 in Zougrata (now Menzel-Habib), has enabled Tunisia to assess the contribution of the first observation satellites to the study of arid environments. This operation was coordinated by the Agricultural Research Institute of Tunisia, IRA (Tunisia) and the Centre d'écologie et de physiologie énergétiques (France).

The General Directorate for Water and Soil Conservation, whose functions involve combating erosion, the harnessing of run-off water and groundwater protection, is administering a scheme to gather climatic data at dams using the Argos data collection and position location system. The information gathered by a network of transmitters provides rainfall, dam water-level and water temperature readings and is used for evaluating and monitoring the water balance.

The General Directorate for Water Resources, which is responsible for recording and evaluating surface-water and groundwater resources, operates a network of gauges throughout the country.

The General Directorate for Fisheries and Aquaculture, one of whose tasks is to ensure the rational use of fish resources, tested the Argos system for the purpose of satellite fishing vessel monitoring over a period of several months in 1995, in cooperation with the Tunisian Union of Agriculture and Fisheries.

In the area of navigation positioning, the Airports Office of Tunisia (OPAT), which is responsible for the planning, operation and development of airports and their ancillary equipment and also for regional and local air traffic control in Tunisia, uses the global positioning system (GPS) for air navigation purposes. OPAT is a member of the national committee responsible for formulating a plan to implement future air navigation systems in line with the global plan for the adoption of the new system of communications, navigation and surveillance and air traffic management (CNS/ATM) by the International Civil Aviation Organization.

In addition to making use of space technology applications, Tunisia operates a centre to track the Arabsat geostationary satellites. The main functions of this centre are to monitor and correct the altitude and orbit of the Arabsat satellites. The centre possesses national expertise in geostationary satellite tracking.