Morocco: Internet on the go
Long one of the best performing segments in the Kingdom’s economy, Morocco’s information and communications technology (ICT) sector is continuing its rapid expansion but with a renewed focus, with recent trends indicating internet and 3G services overtaking mobile voice telephony in terms of growth.
Source : https://www.marocafrik.com/english/Morocco-Interne...
The Moroccan economy went through a difficult period in 2011, due in part to lower tourism revenues and weakened export demand, yet telecommunications and ICT increased its contribution to GDP to Dh11.34m (€1.02m) in the third quarter of 2011, up an impressive 19% from the same period in 2010 according to OBG.
While Morocco’s rapidly expanding mobile phone market has helped underwrite ICT growth in recent years, a penetration rate of 113.6% and a decrease in tariffs amongst the three telecoms operators mean that expansion has slowed considerably in the voice segment.
The number of subscribers rose modestly to 36.55m by end-December 2011, up 14.3% from 31.98m at end-2010, bringing mobile market penetration to 113.6% although post-paid contracts only represent 1.56m, or 4.5%, of total users. Similarly, mobile usage prices decreased by approximately 34% across the board in 2011, from Dh1.12 (€0.10) to Dh0.74 (€0.67) per minute.
However, the moderate slowdown in voice activity is being offset by a noticeable rise in data and other value-added services. Demand for 3G mobile services is rising quickly and will likely be the driver of future sector growth. In 2011, the total number of internet subscribers increased by 70.44% year-on-year to reach 3.18m. Internet access via 3G represented 81.4% of the market by end-2011, with the remaining 18.53% from ADSL connections.
The increased online activity, which comes in spite of a modest internet penetration rate of just under 10%, comes on the back of a dramatic rise in e-government and e-business services. This is perhaps most noticeable in e-commerce, where a number of retail operators are also moving to the web.
More than 200 online retail sites are currently affiliated with Maroc Telecommerce, which provides businesses with a secure online platform allowing customers to purchase products and services online. Anticipating further expansion of the internet sector, Viadeo, the second largest online professional networking site after LinkedIn, announced the launch of a regional branch in Morocco in January. Casablanca is the company’s second office to be opened in Africa, following Senegal in May 2011. The number of Moroccan members doubled in less than a year and now represents one-quarter of the company’s 2m African members.
The increased demand has also been fostered by improved connectivity, both within and outside the country, as infrastructure upgrades expand bandwidth and access. The ANRT estimates that nationwide internet bandwidth increased by 65.87% from 75,000 Mbps in 2010 to 124,400 Mbps by the end of 2011. Maroc Telecom launched a project in January to lay an 187-km submarine cable, Loukkos, linking the city of Asilah with Rota, Spain. The cable is expected to be operational by the end of March, with an initial capacity of 80 gigabits per second (Gbp/s) and the possibility to increase to 1280 Gbps.
The company estimates Loukkos will help to respond to growing internet traffic and will better supply businesses that rely on broadband internet connectivity, such as offshore call centres. The construction of the cable is being carried out in partnership with CanaLink and Alcatel Submarine Network, for a total project cost of Dh143m (€12.9m) financed by Maroc Telecom.
Loukkos is Maroc Telecom’s second submarine cable project. Its 1634-km Atlas Offshore cable, linking Asilah and Marseille, France was finalised in 2007. The company is also investing in a land-based cable project that will ultimately link Morocco, Mauritania, Mali and Burkina Faso.
The country’s increasing attention to internet services has not gone unnoticed. Morocco advanced 10 places in the International Telecommunications Union’s annual ranking, placing 90th out of 152 countries, ahead of South Africa (97th) and Algeria (103rd). The report, “Measuring the Information Society,” ranks countries according to their ICT development index (IDI), which measures the population’s level of ICT access, use and skills on a scale of 1 to 10. If the pace of infrastructural growth can keep up with growing demand for mobile internet services, ICT should be a dynamic sector for years to come.
While Morocco’s rapidly expanding mobile phone market has helped underwrite ICT growth in recent years, a penetration rate of 113.6% and a decrease in tariffs amongst the three telecoms operators mean that expansion has slowed considerably in the voice segment.
The number of subscribers rose modestly to 36.55m by end-December 2011, up 14.3% from 31.98m at end-2010, bringing mobile market penetration to 113.6% although post-paid contracts only represent 1.56m, or 4.5%, of total users. Similarly, mobile usage prices decreased by approximately 34% across the board in 2011, from Dh1.12 (€0.10) to Dh0.74 (€0.67) per minute.
However, the moderate slowdown in voice activity is being offset by a noticeable rise in data and other value-added services. Demand for 3G mobile services is rising quickly and will likely be the driver of future sector growth. In 2011, the total number of internet subscribers increased by 70.44% year-on-year to reach 3.18m. Internet access via 3G represented 81.4% of the market by end-2011, with the remaining 18.53% from ADSL connections.
The increased online activity, which comes in spite of a modest internet penetration rate of just under 10%, comes on the back of a dramatic rise in e-government and e-business services. This is perhaps most noticeable in e-commerce, where a number of retail operators are also moving to the web.
More than 200 online retail sites are currently affiliated with Maroc Telecommerce, which provides businesses with a secure online platform allowing customers to purchase products and services online. Anticipating further expansion of the internet sector, Viadeo, the second largest online professional networking site after LinkedIn, announced the launch of a regional branch in Morocco in January. Casablanca is the company’s second office to be opened in Africa, following Senegal in May 2011. The number of Moroccan members doubled in less than a year and now represents one-quarter of the company’s 2m African members.
The increased demand has also been fostered by improved connectivity, both within and outside the country, as infrastructure upgrades expand bandwidth and access. The ANRT estimates that nationwide internet bandwidth increased by 65.87% from 75,000 Mbps in 2010 to 124,400 Mbps by the end of 2011. Maroc Telecom launched a project in January to lay an 187-km submarine cable, Loukkos, linking the city of Asilah with Rota, Spain. The cable is expected to be operational by the end of March, with an initial capacity of 80 gigabits per second (Gbp/s) and the possibility to increase to 1280 Gbps.
The company estimates Loukkos will help to respond to growing internet traffic and will better supply businesses that rely on broadband internet connectivity, such as offshore call centres. The construction of the cable is being carried out in partnership with CanaLink and Alcatel Submarine Network, for a total project cost of Dh143m (€12.9m) financed by Maroc Telecom.
Loukkos is Maroc Telecom’s second submarine cable project. Its 1634-km Atlas Offshore cable, linking Asilah and Marseille, France was finalised in 2007. The company is also investing in a land-based cable project that will ultimately link Morocco, Mauritania, Mali and Burkina Faso.
The country’s increasing attention to internet services has not gone unnoticed. Morocco advanced 10 places in the International Telecommunications Union’s annual ranking, placing 90th out of 152 countries, ahead of South Africa (97th) and Algeria (103rd). The report, “Measuring the Information Society,” ranks countries according to their ICT development index (IDI), which measures the population’s level of ICT access, use and skills on a scale of 1 to 10. If the pace of infrastructural growth can keep up with growing demand for mobile internet services, ICT should be a dynamic sector for years to come.
Source : https://www.marocafrik.com/english/Morocco-Interne...