Morocco Country Commercial Guide
Learn about the market conditions, opportunities, regulations, and business conditions in morocco, prepared by at U.S. Embassies worldwide by Commerce Department, State Department and other U.S. agencies’ professionals
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Telecommunications
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Overview

Morocco’s mobile market is one of the more mature in the region, with a penetration rate of 137.5 percent.  The three mobile network operators – Maroc Telecom, Orange, and Inwi – offer fixed-line and fixed-wireless services. They have developed mobile data services based on the extensive reach of LTE infrastructure.  Growth in mobile data traffic is supported by the popular use of smartphones, which account for about 80 percent of all mobile phones in use.

The three mobile operators are the main providers of internet services, accounting for the great majority of all internet connections.  The issuing of LTE licenses in 2015 included conditions to ensure that services covered at least 65 percent of the population by 2020, while the promotion of broadband accessibility nationally is also supported by the National Broadband Plan through 2022 and by the Maroc Digital 2020 strategy.  The extensive deployment of mobile broadband infrastructure will further consolidate the dominance of mobile players in the broadband sector in the coming years. 

To establish itself as a leading hub in the field of digital technologies on the African continent, Morocco is encouraging foreign direct investment in the telecommunications sector, especially as it seeks to accelerate its whole-of-society digital transformation, promote new technologies, and develop telecommunications services.  All three telecom operators have successfully completed their pilot tests for 5G and stand ready to deploy their own 5G networks in Morocco.  The Government of Morocco is currently conducting international studies to better understand international safety and implementation standards and benchmarks before deploying Morocco’s 5G network.  Morocco’s National Telecommunications Regulatory Agency (ANRT) expects to conduct its 5G spectrum auction by the end of 2023 or beginning of 2024.  Each telecom operator is now lining up equipment contracts in anticipation of that auction.  Several international technology companies have shown interest in Morocco’s evolving 5G landscape.

Leading Sub-Sectors

Morocco offers excellent opportunities for U.S. firms in the following segments:

  • Host Services
  • Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT)
  • Virtualization technologies
  • Cloud computing
  • Big Data
  • Data management and storage
  • Broadband Connection
  • Software as a Service (SaaS)
  • Communication technologies
  • Cyber security

Opportunities

Mobile phones

Morocco’s mobile phone user penetration rate is above 100 percent (49.42 million mobile phone subscribers, out of a population estimated at 36 million people).   Regarding the number of 4G mobile subscribers, a recent report from ANRT shows an increase of more than 30 percent to approximately 20.5 million.

Internet

 Morocco Number of Internet Subscribers data was reported at 35,574,000.000 Unit in December 2022. and an internet penetration rate of 88.1 percent, .  Morocco’s mobile internet base is 33.18.7 million, representing 93 percent of the overall internet market.  A total of 50.19 million cellular mobile connections were active in Morocco in early 2023, with this figure equivalent to 133.3 percent of the total population.

Telecommunications market

The Morocco telecom market size was valued at $3.5 billion in 2021 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 3% during the forecast period, 2021-2026. Three operators share the 2G-4G telecoms market: Maroc Telecom (42.9 percent), Orange Maroc (33.2 percent), and Inwi (23.9 percent).  The total income of these three companies represents more than 75 percent of total industry revenue. Maroc Telecom, Morocco’s largest telecoms operator and has operations in Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Chad, Togo and the Central African Republic.

5G: The three major telecoms operators are preparing for their transition to 5G, now expected in 2024. For the next two years, they intend to invest in strengthening the coverage of mobile networks, the national backbones of telecommunications and infrastructure.   Morocco’s telecom service providers consider data management and security when reviewing proposals for equipment and services. The 5G market offers good opportunities for U.S. technology companies.

For more information on opportunities, please visit: https://anrt.ma/en/.

Improving access to the internet forms one of the main goals of the Digital Morocco Plan 2021-2025, which intends to use digitalization and stimulate ICT entrepreneurship to support broader national development.  Morocco’s digital transition Ministry has just completed the revision of the Digital strategy that will be announced soon. Cloud & data centers, cybersecurity, start-ups and IT trainings are the main segments that the GOM would like to develop. ,   

For more information, please visit: https://www.add.gov.ma/category/feuille-de-route.

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