• Mauritania warns three telecoms over poor service in 62 locations

• Demands compliance in 30 days or face new sanctions

• Operators previously fined; service gaps persist despite investments

Mauritania's telecom regulator, Autorité de régulation (ARE), has issued a formal notice to operators Chinguitel, Mauritel, and Mattel for failing to meet quality-of-service standards. The move comes as the quality of voice and data services remains subpar despite a series of recent financial and administrative penalties.

The latest notice follows a regulatory inspection from July 7 to August 23, which found service deficiencies across 62 cities, localities, and 11 major roadways. Mattel was cited for voice failures in 24 cities, 3G data in 15, and 4G in 22, along with issues on nine roadways. Mauritel had shortcomings in 24 cities for voice, 30 for 3G, 29 for 4G, and on eight roadways. Chinguitel was flagged in 28 cities for voice, 39 for 3G, 22 for 4G, and on 10 roadways.

"As a result, the regulatory authority has invited the operators... to comply with their commitments regarding the quality of voice and data services in the cities, localities, and roadways where deficiencies were noted, within thirty calendar days from the date of receipt of the formal notice letters," the ARE said in a statement on Friday, September 12.

This is not the first time the regulator has taken action. On January 19, the ARE issued a formal notice to Chinguitel for failing to ensure "permanent, continuous, and regular availability of its services." A continuous monitoring platform showed that between January 1 and 14, 162 of the operator's sites were offline for a cumulative period exceeding 72 hours, the legal maximum. The company was given seven days to fix the issues or face sanctions, though no public update has been released on whether the corrections were made or penalties were applied.

In November 2024, the regulator sanctioned all three operators for similar service quality failures. Mauritel was fined 313.2 million ouguiyas ($7.8 million) and had its 2G license reduced by one month. Mattel was fined 127.03 million ouguiyas and saw its 2G license reduced by two months. Chinguitel was ordered to pay 100.2 million ouguiyas and had its 2G, 3G, and 4G licenses cut by three, one, and two months, respectively.

Following the threat of these sanctions in September 2024, Mattel announced in October the completion of a two-year network expansion project. The project was carried out in two phases, with the first, completed in November 2023, strengthening the network across 266 sites. The second phase, finalized in September 2024, extended the network to 217 additional sites, covering all regional capitals and districts. Mattel also enhanced coverage on five major roadways.

A few days later, Moov announced a 14 billion ouguiyas ($35.2 million) investment program to improve its infrastructure over a seven-month period, aiming to significantly enhance the quality of voice and internet service nationwide.

The ARE hopes its penalties will compel operators to consistently provide service quality levels that meet international standards. However, the GSM Association (GSMA) argues that some regulatory targets can be overly complex or unrealistic, with many hard-to-measure indicators that may hinder long-term investment. The GSMA recommends co-regulation, where performance objectives are set transparently and equitably, regularly published, and allow consumers to track quality improvements while giving a competitive advantage to high-performing operators.

Isaac K. Kassouwi