Morocco's Mobile Phone Mania

What is it with mobile phones in Morocco? If you believed the statistics, then Morocco, with a population of around 32 million has 36.55 million mobile phone users at the end of 2011. That is more phones than people in the Kingdom.  Compared to 2010, this is a growth rate of 14.29 percent giving the country a penetration rate of 113.57 percent.

Of course the raw figures do not paint an accurate figure. A 100% penetration rate is an impossibility, given that there are large sections of the community who do not possess a mobile phone. Some people are either too old, too young or too poor. Rural areas fall a long way below the national penetration rate.

 This is more than 100% penetration rate is not unique to Morocco. In fact it can be observed in a large number of countries. The explanation is that many pre-paid customers have multiple sim cards for use on different networks and telcos have difficulty establishing when a card becomes inactive. In Morocco at present around 26 percent of all phone customers have a contract and are "post-billed" compared to almost 14 percent for pre-paid. The number of multiple sim card owners is unknown.

According to a recent report from the national telecom regulator ANRT, Maroc Telecom saw its mobile market share fall to 48.85 percent at the end of 2011, compared to 52.81 percent a year earlier, Medi Telecom’s dipped to 32.92 percent from 33.74 percent and Wana Corporate (Inwi) was the big winner, growing from 13.45 percent to 20.23 percent.

Moroccan favour smart-phones for going online

In a booming mobile phone market, it is not surprising that fixed phone subscribers fell by 4.89 percent to 3.57 million, for an 11.08 percent penetration rate. Fixed call traffic came down by 9.42 percent year-on-year. Wana Corporate had a 64.59 percent share of the fixed phone market at the end of 2011, followed by Maroc Telecom with 34.79 percent and Medi Telecom with 0.62 percent.

As we reported a few days ago, Morocco's love affair with the Internet continues (see story here). The number of Internet users increased by 70.44 percent to 3.18 million, and the fact that there are 4.1 million FaceBook users indicates just how many Internet users are using a mobile device to go online. Mobile internet accounted for 81.41 percent of all internet users at the end of last year, followed by ADSL at 18.53 percent, up 18.49 percent on a year earlier.

The mobile phone market in Africa is massive 

On a broader front, mobile phone ownership in Africa continues to increase. By early 2010 mobile subscribers in Africa had smashed through the half billion mark and according to Blycroft Mobile Operator database there were some 508.6 million subscribers. Today that is reckoned to be over 600 million

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Mobile Phone Coverage in Morocco

Morocco is something of a miracle in Africa. Not only does it have massive infrastructure programmes going ahead at full speed, but in telecommunications it is the number one country in the region. While visitors are impressed by the internet speeds (the highest in Africa), the biggest surprise is the extent of mobile phone coverage. The ability to take and make calls in remote areas is superb. Yet even now, it is to be improved.

Maroc Telecom has signed its fourth and final agreement with Moroccan regulator the ANRT under the country’s universal service scheme, PACT (programme of general access to telecommunications), with the latest phase to cover 1,573 villages as part of a project to serve 7,338 rural communities including many in remote areas, under a total investment of around MAD2.8 billion (USD345 million).

The incumbent telco’s statement said that 5,765 communities will have received its telecoms services in three phases between 2008 and late-July 2011, and by 31 December 2011 the entire population living in 7,338 areas will have access to mobile telephony and emergency services numbers.

According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, Maroc Telecom accounts for the lion’s share of PACT’s overall aim of extending services to 9,263 locations in 2008-2011 via fixed-wireless and mobile networks.

Moroccan Photography Competition #33

In front of the zaouia Tijani - photographer Eberhard Hahne

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Send your photograph in jpeg or gif form to: theviewfromfez@gmail.com and please put the words "photo entry" in the subject line.

Moroccan Digital Strategy 2013

Morocco is progressing well in all digital fields. Not only does it have Africa's highest speed internet connectivity, but now, according to data included in Morocco's candidacy for the International Telecommunications Union Council's elections held in Guada la Jara (Mexico), the mobile phone network reached 25.3 million in 2009 while the number of users of land phones was estimates at 3.5 million with a coverage rate of 92.46%.

Morocco's candidacy, presented by the Moroccan delegation in Hyderabad during the World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC-10), revealed that the number of internet users reached 1.2 million in 2009 while the number of internet surfers increased to 13 million up from 3.5 five years before.

Call centres in Rabat almost quadrupled from 122 in 2004 to 415 in 2009, whereas the number of cybercafés reached 8950.

Secretary General of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and New Technologies said the progress witnessed in the field of telecommunications and new technologies in Morocco is due to the efficiency of the legal and institutional framework launched by the Kingdom to liberalize the sector and encourage private enterprise.

He said that Morocco has set up a strategy to develop the sector dubbed "digital Morocco" which seeks to make of this field a cornerstone for human development, a source of productivity and a value added to other economic sectors.

The "Digital Morocco 2013" strategy envisages nationwide access to high-speed internet, by 2013, bringing the administration closer to the needs of the user through an ambitious e-government programme, and encouraging the computerization of SMEs, he added.

The election of the 46 members of the Council of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) takes place every four years, at Plenipotentiary Conferences.

Morocco to adopt 10-digit numbers on 6 March

Morocco will move to a 10-digit numbering system on 6 March, due to the high demand for mobile services. Regulator ANRT, which announced the planned change in September last year, has now given an official start date as March 6.

Fixed-line phone numbers starting with 02 or 03 will change into 052 and 053. Mobile phone numbers starting with 01, 04, 05, 06 or 07 will have a 5 after 0, while those starting with 08 or 09 will become 080 and 089.

To dial, from abroad, a Moroccan land-line number starting with +2122 or + 2123, add 5 before 2 or 3 (i.e. 21252 or 21253).

When calling a mobile phone starting with +2121, +2124, +2125, +2126 or +2127, a 6 should be added before 1, 4, 5, 6 or 7. For international calls to numbers starting with +2128 or +2129, replace 8 by 80 and 9 by 89.

The changes will not apply to international calls from Morocco, special service numbers and emergency numbers, ANRT said.

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