Algérie Télécom (AT) Drops French for English in Landmark Shift Toward Global Integration

Algérie Télécom (AT) Drops French for English in Landmark Shift Toward Global Integration

 

✍️ BY: Dr. Hana Saada

Algiers, Algeria | Algérie Télécom (AT) — the country’s historic state-owned fixed-line operator — has announced it will officially replace French with English on its customer invoices, placing it alongside Arabic as the two sole languages featured.

 

The decision, unveiled on Sunday, August 10, marks not merely a linguistic adjustment but a clear reorientation toward global communication norms and away from the vestiges of colonial linguistic dominance. For decades, French occupied the secondary linguistic space on AT’s official documents. Now, English — the lingua franca of international business and technology — takes its place.

In its official statement, AT framed the shift as “a new stage in the modernization of its services,” designed to enhance customer experience and meet the needs of a rapidly diversifying user base, including expatriates, multinational corporations, foreign students, and English-speaking professionals. The move also aligns with Algeria’s gradual pivot toward broader international engagement in sectors increasingly dominated by English-speaking markets.

Crucially, AT underscored that this is not a symbolic flourish but part of a larger operational transformation, including the launch of a fully English-language version of its official website. “The integration of English into our official documents ensures greater accessibility to information, transparency, and compliance with international standards,” the statement read.

The change follows similar steps by other state enterprises — such as Air Algérie and Seaal — that have recently eliminated French from key customer-facing documents. It also comes at a time of heightened diplomatic tension between Algiers and Paris, following President Emmanuel Macron’s controversial recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, a move condemned by Algeria as a breach of international law.

 

 

 

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