Government Policies

Overview:

In the last three years, Morocco has made great strides in liberalizing its Telecommunications sector. The restructuring of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications created an independent regulatory body, ANRT, and an operator,

Maroc Telecom, formerly known as Itissalat Al Maghrib. The Economist Intelligence

Unit ranked Morocco as having the most autonomous telecommunications regulator in all

of Africa and the Middle East. It was ranked as having the second best overall regulatory

structure in Middle East and Africa, behind only Israel. The Government of Morocco

(GOM) will introduce competition into all telecommunications services by January 1, 2002. Progress has been made in infrastructure development as well, with connected

lines increasing from 827,000 in 1993 to 1,455,853 at the end of 1999.  During the last year, Morocco granted GMPCS Licenses and a Moroccan subsidiary of U.S. ORBCOMM installed an earth station in Morocco to serve as the Maghreb-West

Europe link in the ORBCOMM global GMPCS network. Four VSAT licenses were

awarded Maroc Telecom has installed a VSAT system for internal non-commercial use.

The privatization of the operator, Maroc Telecom, is scheduled for fall 2000.

General Telecommunication Policy:

The Agence Nationale de Réglementation des Télécommunications (ANRT) was formed in August 1997 pursuant to decree No 24-96 to:

·        Reorganize the telecommunication sector and take over the functions previously handled by the government;

·        Guarantee competition in the market and act transparently,

·        Protect players and users against the risks of illegal and unfair market practices;

·        Give equal treatment of the users as regards tariffs;

·        Guarantee the respect, by the operators, of the agreements and International Conventions ratified by the Kingdom of Morocco, as regards universal provisions relating to telecommunications;

·        Discharge the government’s policy on the sector; and

·        Ensure the correct operation and the protection of operator networks to be able to meet the needs for national defense and security.

The new structure of this sector, as stated in the law, defines the following objectives:

·        To create an efficient and transparent statutory body for telecommunication network operators and service users;

·        To develop modern telecom networks and services;

·        To ensure widespread provision of services; and

·        To create employment opportunities directly or indirectly related to the sector.

International agreements and relationships:

Morocco is represented at the different meetings held by international and regional organizations concerned with telecommunications and in particular:

·        the Council of Ministers of Posts and Telecommunications of the Union of the Arabian Maghreb;

·        the Council of Arabian Ministers of Telecommunications;

·        ARABSAT;

·        The International Union of Telecommunications;

·        the World Commerce Organization (OMC);

·        the Gulf Countries Cooperation Council;

·        the European Telecommunications Organization EUTELSAT.

Morocco is equipped with the most modern means of telecommunications. Underwater cables and satellites connect the country to Western Europe and North America. These means are continually reinforced and adapted to the evolution of exchange and technology as Morocco participates in the international European-American projects using underwater fiber optic cables and satellites - "Intelsat" et "Arabsat".

Participation in the African satellite project "AFROSAT" will also allow Morocco to diversify its relations with other African nations. Morocco is currently connected to 150 countries.

Regulatory framework:

During his speech in March 1997, his Majesty declared: "in the telecommunications field, a reform of the institutional framework governing this sector is unavoidable." The principle result of this was:

·        the separation of postal and telecommunication activities,

·        the separation of regulation and production operations

·        the opening of the market to competition

Most current law, decree #24-96 outlines the plan to liberalize the telecommunication sector.  The purpose of the law #24-96 is to define the legal framework which specifies the new fields of operations for the postal and telecommunication sectors, particularly that of telecommunication networks which will be able to be used by private license holders.

Copy of the actual document detailing the LAW NO. 24-96 relative to the post office and telecommunications: 

Sample

Liberalization Status:

Key Government Goals:

·        Universal Service - Universal service is one of the public service missions to which IAM must contribute. This implies that telephone service will be available throughout the country and that a phone box will be installed by the year 2002 in every community of more than 200 households.

·        Quality of Service - Service quality is one of the traditional operator’s priorities. This operator with improving its communication network in order to achieve a technical efficiency rate of 98% in 1998.

·        Interconnection - Interconnection between the different networks must be done under conditions that are regulated both technically and financially; that are acceptable, objective and non-discriminatory and which ensure practices based upon fair competition. The National Agency of Telecommunication Regulation will ensure that these terms are respected and will settle any related disputes.

Governmental IT Initiatives:

National, regional and local

At governmental level the applicable principles are as follows:

·        Use of EDI at the port of Casablanca

·        Integrated management projects ( Human Resources, Management and Heritage)

·        Administration on line: this project aims at facilitating access to administrative information for the Moroccan citizen and also sets up an inter administration network.

·        General Information System of land conservation in order to centralize computerized data related to real estate ownership (ground plans, land titles, mortgage)

·        General Information System for the Ministry of the Environment

·        Creation of an Observatory for Information Technology in the industrial and commercial sector

Education

The main project of education is the information system MARWAN (Moroccan Academic and research WAN) which allows Moroccan municipal schools and universities to be connected.

Transport

Two projects are presently being prepared : one concerns the creation of an educational CD-ROM on road safety codes and the other to set up a new system of numberplate management.

Other

·        A tourist project is being elaborated aimed at creating a virtual presentation of Moroccan tourist heritage.

·        A training program for information technology in enterprises is being studied

·        Assistance program for integration of information technology in businesses, financial aid and fiscal incentives.

 Sample Project

Country Background

Telecommunications Infrastructure

Industrial Production

Internet Diffusion

Electronic Commerce

Hardware Manufacturing

Software Development

IT Labor Market

IT Geographic

Government policies

Analysis: IT strength/Weakness

Analysis: IT Impacts on Business

Reference

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