According to Art. 2 of Decree No. 4773-2014, ISPs must be authorised by the Minister responsible for telecommunications after consultation with the Minister of the Interior and the National Telecommunications Authority. Art. 3 stipulates that any person wishing to be authorised as an ISP must meet the following conditions:
- In the case of a natural person, be of Tunisian nationality and hold a university degree or equivalent;
- In the case of a legal person, be constituted in accordance with Tunisian law, with a share capital of at least 1,000,000 dinars (approx. USD 322,000) held in name and by a majority of Tunisian nationals.
Art. 4 adds that granting of the ISP authorisation is subject to the payment of a fee of 150,000 dinars (approx. USD 48,500), payable on the date of granting the authorisation.

Tunisia has appended the World Trade Organization (WTO) Telecom Reference Paper to its schedule of Commitments annexed to the Fourth Protocol on Basic Telecommunications.

It is reported that Tunisia mandates functional and accounting separation for operators with significant market power (SMP) in the telecom market. According to Art. 26-bis of Law No. 1-2001 promulgating the Telecommunications Code, operators of public telecommunications networks and access networks undertake to keep analytical accounts distinguishing between each network and each service and to refrain from any anti-competitive practices, in particular cross-subsidisation.

Art. 5 of Law No. 1 of 2001 states that the provision of telecommunication services is subject to prior authorization by the Minister responsible for Telecommunications. Subject to the provisions of Art. 5 of the Code, Art. 8 establishes that the provider of telecommunications services must meet the following conditions:
- for natural persons, they must be of Tunisian nationality;
- in the case of a legal entity, it must be incorporated in accordance with Tunisian law.
Telecommunications service is defined as any service providing telecommunications between two or more users.

Art. 3 of Decree No. 4773 stipulates that any legal entity wishing to obtain a licence as an Internet service provider must, inter alia, meet the requirement of having a majority shareholding by Tunisian owners.

Art. 31 ter of Law No. 1 of 2001 provides that the operation of a virtual telecommunications network shall be subject to prior authorisation by the Minister responsible for telecommunications after obtaining the opinion of the Instance Nationale des Télécommunications (INT, National Telecommunications Authority). The conditions and procedures for granting this authorisation are laid down by Decree No 2014-412. Art. 5 of the Decree stipulates that any legal entity wishing to obtain a licence to operate a virtual telecommunications network must, inter alia, have a majority Tunisian shareholding. Operator of a virtual telecommunications network is defined in Law No. 1 of 2001 as any legal entity holding an authorisation for the provision of telecommunications services by means of a telecommunications network and radio frequencies that it does not own.

The government owns shares in certain telecom companies. In particular, the Tunisian State owns 65% of Tunisie Telecom capital and, since 2011, it owns 10% of the shares of Ooredoo Tunisia and 51% of the shares of Orange Tunisia.

Tunisia lacks a comprehensive framework in place that provides effective protection of trade secrets, but there are limited measures addressing some issues related to them in Art. 138 (Section V – Offenses relating to commerce and industry) and Art. 253 (Section VII – Misappropriation of correspondence, revelation of secrets) of the Tunisian Penal Code.

Art. 38-bis of Law No. 1-2001 (as amended by Art. 2 of Law No. 1-2008) requires operators of public telecommunications networks to allow other operators of public networks and access operators to exploit the components and resources of their networks, the physical co-location and common use of infrastructure. Therefore, there is an obligation for passive infrastructure sharing in Tunisia to deliver telecom services to end users. In addition, it is reported that it is practiced in the mobile sector and in the fixed sector based on commercial agreements.

Tunisia has a copyright regime under Law No. 2009-33, which amended Law No. 36-1994. However, the exceptions do not follow the fair use or fair dealing model, limiting the lawful use of copyrighted work by others. Art. 10 of Law No. 36-1994 provided a list of exceptions, which has been expanded by Law No. 33-2009. The updated list of exceptions includes: reproduction for scientific research purposes; reproduction as part of teaching activities; the communication or reproduction of press articles published in newspapers or periodicals on current economic, political or social topics, among others.

It is reported that the rate of unlicensed software installation in the country was 73% in 2017 (above the 56% rate of the Middle Eastern and African countries), for an estimated commercial value of USD 39 million. Concerns about weak copyright enforcement in Tunisia are also raised in several reports, which cite the country as a thriving market for counterfeit and pirated goods, particularly unlicensed software. This is despite Arts. 51-55 of Law No. 36-1994 on Literary and Artistic Property, last amended and completed by Law No. 33-2009, are devoted to punitive measures against piracy and other copyright offenses.

Tunisia has ratified the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty.

Tunisia has ratified the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Performances and Phonograms Treaty.

According to Art. 20 of Law No. 84-2000, an applicant for a patent domiciled abroad shall appoint an agent established in Tunisia.

Tunisia is a party to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).