Morocco’s three main telecom operators granted licenses to deploy 5G across the country

Following a public tender launched by the National Telecommunications Regulatory Agency (ANRT),Morocco’s three main telecom operators,Maroc Telecom (Itissalat Al-Maghrib),Orange (Médi Telecom),and Wana Corporate (INWI) have been awarded 5G licenses,the agency announced in a statement.

Morocco’s Head of Government,Aziz Akhannouch,approved the decision after a meeting of the ANRT Board of Directors and validated the agency’s evaluation report.

The ANRT awarded licenses to all three operators after reviewing their applications,stating that each committed to advancing 5G deployment across the country through investments,network expansion,and enhanced quality of service.

The total projected investment and operational expenses in 2035 amount to nearly MAD 80 billion.

In the evaluation,Maroc Telecom and Wana Corporate each received a score of 87,while Médi Telecom scored 85. Financially,Maroc Telecom will pay MAD 900 million (tax included) for 120 MHz of spectrum,while Médi Telecom and Wana Corporate will each pay MAD 600 million for 70 MHz.

The winners committed to covering 45% of the population with 5G services by 2026 and 85% by 2030,when the country will co-host the World Cup along with Portugal and Spain.

According to the Moroccan government’s targets,the six cities that will host the 2030 World Cup matches will be fully covered by the 5G network.

Compared to 4G,5G can provide download speeds up to 100 times faster,while reducing latency to as low as 1 millisecond.

Morocco has one of the highest internet penetration rates in Africa at 90.7%.