Morocco’s telecom regulator said it would consider issuing new telecom licences next year as part of plans to boost the country’s telecom sector.
The decision, which had previously been rumoured in local media, was taken at the ANRT’s meeting on January…
Morocco’s telecom regulator said it would consider issuing new telecom licences next year as part of plans to boost the country’s telecom sector.
The decision, which had previously been rumoured in local media, was taken at the ANRT’s meeting on January 19, where it set out its strategy and budget for 2010-2013.
In a summary of the meeting published today, the regulator says new licences would be considered “notably for fixed-line or next-generation” operators.
Morocco liberalised its fixed-line sector in 2006 and is now host to three combined fixed-line and mobile players – Maroc Telecom (Vivendi), Meditel (CDG/Benjelloun) and Wana (Ona/ Zain).
It is considered “one of the most advanced telecommunications markets in Africa,” according to a BuddeComm note from 2009.
The country has been actively rolling out wireless technologies such as WiMAX, while Maroc Telecom is well underway in building a fibre optic backbone which it aims to extend to West African markets where it is also present, including Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso and Gabon.
The ANRT said a study would be carried out to assess the impact any new licences would have on the market and the existing operators.
Also at the meeting, the regulator said that spectrum sales would be held at the end of 2011 to facilitate next-generation services.
The moves are part of broader aim to eventually provide universal access to the country. The ANRT aims for the country to have 34 million mobile customers by 2013, up from 25 million today and representing nearly the entire population of the country (35 million). It also aims for the sector to have two million internet subscribers and generate total revenues of MAD40bn by 2013.
Morocco’s current fixed-line penetration stands at 9.72%, while mobile penetration is close to 72%, according to The Mobile World.
