Internet subscriptions rise by 220% in Morocco

10/08/2007

This year has marked a turning point in the telecoms market in Morocco, with the entry of new players Méditelecom and Wana. The country now has around two million landline subscribers, over 17 million mobile subscribers and 480,000 Internet subscribers.

By Adam Mahdi for Maghrebia in Casablanca – 10/08/2007

[anrt.ma] Morocco's telecoms market is showing double-digit growth

Recent statistics from the National Telecoms Regulation Agency (ANRT) have shown the impact of deregulation of the telecommunications market, pointing to double-digit growth for the various information and communications technology (ICT) segments – landline telephones, mobile phones and the Internet.

According to the latest report published by the Agency's ICT information centre, as of June 30th Morocco had nearly two million (1,940,896) landline subscribers, equating to a penetration rate of over 6%, up from 4% in 2006. This strong performance is primarily due to the introduction of fixed-line services with limited mobility onto the market by Wana and Méditel. Also in the landline segment, the total number of payphones across the country, including phone shops, phone booths and card-operated pay phones, saw modest growth to 159,177.

The penetration rate for mobile phones is continuing its sustained growth, having reached a level of 57% with a total of more than 17.7 million subscribers.

The market is still dominated by Maroc Telecom, the original operator, which has almost 66% of the mobile market compared with a share of 34% for its rival Medi Télécom. Next year will mark a turning-point for the mobile market with the entry of a third player, Wana.

In the meantime, subscriptions to GSM Internet are continuing to decline while prepaid Internet services are dominating the market with a share of 95% compared with 5% for post-paid services.

The impact of high-speed (ADSL) Internet is clearly continuing to grow since the market has expanded by 40% since last year (June 2006) to reach a total of 480,000 subscribers, 93% of whom are on ADSL, while low-speed and leased lines have suffered.

Experts believe there are now more than six million Internet users on the market.

Since the introduction of ADSL services, Morocco's Internet market has witnessed unprecedented growth, reaching a record level of 220% since June 2005. This boom led to an increase from 168,000 subscribers in June 2005 to 480,000 in June 2007.

The second quarter of 2007 saw the launch by the three operators – Maroc Telecom, Méditel and Wana – of 3G Internet services onto the market in the country’s main cities, priced at 600 dirhams ($73 US) with speeds of over 3 MB.