Mauritel SA is the historical Mauritanian operator, created in 1999 following the split of the Posts and Telecommunications Office.

In 2000, Mauritel SA established Mauritel Mobiles, which it owns 100%, and which obtained the second GSM Mobile network operating license.

On April 12, 2001, following an international tender launched by the Mauritanian Government, Maroc Telecom acquired 54% of Mauritel SA’s capital. In January 2002, the Maroc Telecom Group created the Mauritanian Communications Company (CMC), to which it contributed the shares it held in Mauritel SA. On June 6, 2002, Maroc Telecom sold 20% of CMC to Mauritanian investors. During the 2003 fiscal year, CMC sold 3% of Mauritel SA to its employees for 17 million dirhams in accordance with commitments made during the 2001 privatization.

From July 1, 2004, the end of the Mauritanian State’s veto rights in Mauritel SA gave Maroc Telecom exclusive control over the subsidiary, leading to its full consolidation. In 2006, the CMC Group purchased 0.527% of Mauritel SA’s capital from SOCIPAM, a civil company formed by the staff of Mauritanian subsidiaries. Following this transaction, CMC held 51.527% of Mauritel SA’s capital. Following the repeal in December 2007 (Law 2007-049 of December 3, 2007) of Article 73 of Law 99-019 on telecommunications—which required Mauritel SA to spin off all activities subject to competition, including its Mobile operations—the extraordinary general meetings of Mauritel SA and Mauritel Mobiles on November 27, 2007, approved the merger of the two companies. Since that date, Mauritel SA has become a fully integrated operator, benefiting from synergies across its Fixed, Mobile, and Internet operations.

On January 1, 2021, Mauritel launched a new commercial brand for all its activities under the name Moov Mauritel.

Mauritel provides Fixed Telephony services (voice and data) as well as high-speed Internet access to individual customers, businesses, and government administrations.

It should be noted that, in addition to Mauritel, Mattel and Chinguitel obtained a Fixed license in 2009 allowing them to operate in this market. However, Mattel has not yet developed any Fixed networks or offers, while Chinguitel provides its Fixed services via its CDMA network. Mauritel thus remains the only wired operator in Mauritania.

As of the end of December 2023, Mauritel’s Fixed network included 29,000 lines. The operator also deploys an ADSL and FTTH network, enabling it to offer high-speed Internet services to its customers. As of the end of December 2023, Mauritel had 22,000 Internet subscribers, mostly connected via the FTTH network.

Mauritel secures its international bandwidth needs by participating in a consortium with capacity on the ACE (Africa Coast to Europe) submarine cable, which includes all Mauritanian telecom operators and the Mauritanian postal service. Additionally, on June 26, 2020, Mauritel received government approval for the landing of the West Africa Cable of the Maroc Telecom Group in Nouadhibou.

As of September 30, 2023, the Mauritanian market had 5.1 million Mobile customers, representing a penetration rate of 102%. In this market, two operators are active alongside Mauritel: Mattel and Chinguitel. Mauritel’s Mobile base, almost entirely prepaid, stood at 2.2 million customers as of December 31, 2023, down 15% year-on-year due to regulatory constraints related to biometric customer identification. Mauritel maintains its leading position with a market share of 52% at the end of September 2023.