BRIGHT green billboards around the Algerian capital urge consumers to get ready for 3G internet from Mobilis, one of three mobile-phone networks. But most Algerians respond with a shrug and a cynical smile. The government has been promising to roll out third-generation mobile telecoms in this relatively wealthy country of 38m people since 2004. Only on October 15th did the telecoms regulator award licences, to all three bidders.

Some Algerians think the government took so long to keep its promise because it is afraid of letting its predominantly youthful citizens have easier access to the internet. But Ihsane el-Kadi, a local economist, reckons the real reasons are a more complex mix of Kremlinesque local politics, clashing business interests and a lack of know-how for upgrading the system. One obstacle may have been that state-owned Algérie Télécom, the sole provider of fixed-line internet (and owner of Mobilis), wanted to increase its number of subscribers before letting competition into the market.

In 2011, by which time all of Algeria’s north African neighbours were cheerfully surfing the mobile net, locals’ hopes for 3G were raised and dashed again. This time the official reason was concern about foreign involvement: a Russian firm, VimpelCom, had recently taken control of Djezzy, another local mobile operator. The government said it would not launch 3G until it fully controlled Djezzy. The state never bought it outright, but now owns 51%.

Now it has at last awarded the 3G licences, the government has gone about it in an odd way: all three mobile operators (Nedjma, owned by Ooredoo of Qatar, is the third) will compete in Algiers and in three provinces, but in each of the other 45 provinces one of the three will have a local 3G monopoly. Algerians mutter that far from getting improved mobile access they will now have to buy three SIM cards for when they travel.

With near-100% penetration and good revenues, telecoms is a profitable business in Algeria. Somewhat ambitiously, the government wants to raise its contribution to GDP to 8% next year, from about 4% last year, as part of a plan to be less dependent on oil and gas. But the state itself is the main obstacle to developing new ventures of all sorts. A big private-equity investor in Africa says that as a well-off country with a big, urbanised population it would get a lot more start-ups but for the government’s prickliness towards outsiders.

This, and the bureaucracy’s slothfulness, help explain Algeria’s lowly position as 152nd of 185 countries in the World Bank’s league for the ease of doing business. The country imports almost everything, and in some towns unemployment is up to 40%. If they were made more welcome, foreign investors might be pouring in perhaps $5 billion a year, rather than the current $300m-400m, reckons Mr El-Kadi. And as Algerians look forward, finally, to getting their 3G service in December, other countries in the region—even Iraq and Ethiopia—are already moving on to 4G.