Maroc Telecom (
Acronym
An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...
: IAM, ar, اتصالات المغرب) is the main
telecommunications
Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...
company in
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
. Currently employing around 11,178 employees, it is the largest telecommunications network in the country with 8 regional delegations and 220 offices present across Morocco. The company is listed on both the
Casablanca Stock Exchange
The Casablanca Stock Exchange ( ar, بورصة الدار البيضاء; french: La Bourse de Casablanca) is a stock exchange in Casablanca, Morocco. The Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE), which achieves one of the best performances in the region ...
and
Euronext Paris
Euronext Paris is France's securities market, formerly known as the Paris Bourse, which merged with the Amsterdam, Lisbon, and Brussels exchanges in September 2000 to form Euronext NV. As of 2022, the 795 companies listed had a combined marke ...
.
History
The origin of a Moroccan telecommunications project dates back to 1891, when Sultan
Hassan I
''Mawlay'' Hassan bin Mohammed ( ar, الحسن بن محمد, translit=al-Ḥassan bin Muḥammad), known as Hassan I ( ar, الحسن الأول, translit=al-Ḥassan al-Awwal), born in 1836 in Fes and died on 9 June 1894 in Tadla, was a sulta ...
created the first Moroccan postal service. In 1913, the Moroccan
Postal Telephone and Telegraph A postal, telegraph, and telephone service (or PTT) is a government agency responsible for postal mail, telegraph, and telephone services. Such monopolies existed in many countries, though not in North America or Japan. Many PTTs have been partial ...
was established before a
Dahir (King's
decree
A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state (such as the president of a republic or a monarch), according to certain procedures (usually established in a constitution). It has the force of law. The particular term used for ...
) related to the monopoly of the state of
Telegraphy
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...
and
Telephony
Telephony ( ) is the field of technology involving the development, application, and deployment of telecommunication services for the purpose of electronic transmission of voice, fax, or data, between distant parties. The history of telephony is i ...
was published.
In 1967, Morocco placed the first
underwater cable
Cable may refer to:
Mechanical
* Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof
* Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...
between
Tetouan, Morocco, and
Perpignan
Perpignan (, , ; ca, Perpinyà ; es, Perpiñán ; it, Perpignano ) is the prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the ...
, France, through the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
. A few years later, in 1970, a transmission via
INTELSAT
Intelsat S.A. (formerly INTEL-SAT, INTELSAT, Intelsat) is a multinational satellite services provider with corporate headquarters in Luxembourg and administrative headquarters in Tysons Corner, Virginia, United States. Originally formed as In ...
was introduced. The
Telex
The telex network is a station-to-station switched network of teleprinters similar to a Public switched telephone network, telephone network, using telegraph-grade connecting circuits for two-way text-based messages. Telex was a major method of ...
service was then automated in 1971 just before installing a
digital
Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits.
Technology and computing Hardware
*Digital electronics, electronic circuits which operate using digital signals
**Digital camera, which captures and stores digital i ...
center in
Fes
Fez or Fes (; ar, فاس, fās; zgh, ⴼⵉⵣⴰⵣ, fizaz; french: Fès) is a city in northern inland Morocco and the capital of the Fès-Meknès administrative region. It is the second largest city in Morocco, with a population of 1.11 mi ...
.
Due to the advancement of telecommunications around the globe, Morocco decided to create a new entity called the ''Office National des Postes et Télécommunications'' (ONPT) to manage the industry. ONPT was responsible of the introduction of Analog Mobile Radiotelephony in 1987. Later on, in 1992, Morocco set up the first underwater
optical fiber cable
A fiber-optic cable, also known as an optical-fiber cable, is an assembly similar to an electrical cable, but containing one or more optical fibers that are used to carry light. The optical fiber elements are typically individually coated with ...
. Two years later, a GSM service was operational. The Internet was introduced in Morocco by
ONPT ONPT (; ) was a Moroccan state-owned-industrial and economic institution. The body was in charge of all communications and telecommunications matters of Morocco.
In 1998, ONPT was divided into two entities; Maroc Telecom for everything related to ...
in 1995.
After the publication of a telecommunications' decree, Maroc Telecom (IAM) was eventually founded in 1998. The acronym IAM comes from its original Arabic name ''Ittisalat Al Maghrib''. The name "Maroc Telecom" was adopted later for better international recognizability.
Privatization
On 20 February 2001, the Moroccan government sold 35% of Maroc Telecom's shares to French
mass media
Mass media refers to a diverse array of media technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place include a variety of outlets.
Broadcast media transmit information ...
company
Vivendi
Vivendi SE is a French mass media holding company headquartered in Paris. Widely known as the owner of Gameloft, Groupe Canal+, Havas, Editis, Prisma Media, Vivendi Village and Dailymotion, the company has activities in television, film, video ...
. The transaction amounted to 23 Billion
dirhams
The dirham, dirhem or dirhm ( ar, درهم) is a silver unit of currency historically and currently used by several Arab and Arab influenced states. The term has also been used as a related unit of mass.
Unit of mass
The dirham was a un ...
. On 4 January 2005 Vivendi acquired an additional 16% for 12.4 billion
dirhams
The dirham, dirhem or dirhm ( ar, درهم) is a silver unit of currency historically and currently used by several Arab and Arab influenced states. The term has also been used as a related unit of mass.
Unit of mass
The dirham was a un ...
raising its participation to 51%. In October 2007, the
CDG CDG may refer to:
Transport
* Charles de Gaulle Airport (IATA code), Paris, France
* Chandigarh railway station
* ComfortDelGro, a Singaporean multinational land transport company
* Shandong Airlines (ICAO code), based in Shandong, China
* French ...
ceded, via its subsidiary Filpar Holding, 2% of Maroc Telecom to Vivendi in exchange of 0.6% of Vivendi's shares, putting the total shares owned by Vivendi to 53%.
In 2006, the company reported a turnover of $2.67 bn. The custom base was established at 1.27m lines for the landline and at 391,000 lines for the ADSL.
In July 2013, it was announced that the firm’s majority owner,
Vivendi
Vivendi SE is a French mass media holding company headquartered in Paris. Widely known as the owner of Gameloft, Groupe Canal+, Havas, Editis, Prisma Media, Vivendi Village and Dailymotion, the company has activities in television, film, video ...
, would sell its 53% stake in the firm to
Etisalat
Etisalat by e& is an Emirati-based multinational telecommunications services provider, currently operating in 16 countries across Asia, the Middle East and Africa. It is the 18th largest mobile network operator in the world by number of subscri ...
for around $4.2 billion.
In 2016, Maroc Telecom introduced fiber optics to the country with speeds up to 200 Mbits/s.
Activities
Land lines
It consists of the provision of public phones throughout Morocco. The fixed park reaches 1.6 million lines.
Mobile phones
Mobile service
Mobile service is – in line to ITU Radio Regulations – a radiocommunication service between mobile and land stations, or between mobile stations (CV).
Classification
In accordance with ''ITU Radio Regulations'' (article 1) variations of this ...
s are provided via a
GSM
The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a standard developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to describe the protocols for second-generation ( 2G) digital cellular networks used by mobile devices such ...
network. Maroc Telecom counted 33 million customers at the end of October 2012. Its network covers 97% of the
Moroccan population.
It also has 12.5 million customers in Mali, Gabon, Burkina Faso and Mauritania. It is one of the most profitable phone operators in Africa with a revenue of 2.2 billion euros during the first 9 months of 2012.
Maroc Telecom launched
4G+ in Morocco on July 13, 2015.
Customer support
Customer support does only propose contacting by phone to a special number and not via a contact form like most of telecommunication companies.
Projects and investments
On June 1, 2006, IAM launched the
IPTV
Internet Protocol television (IPTV) is the delivery of television content over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. This is in contrast to delivery through traditional terrestrial, satellite, and cable television formats. Unlike downloaded media, ...
package deployed by
Huawei
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. ( ; ) is a Chinese multinational technology corporation headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. It designs, develops, produces and sells telecommunications equipment, consumer electronics and various smar ...
Technology via the
ADSL
Asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) is a type of digital subscriber line (DSL) technology, a data communications technology that enables faster data transmission over copper telephone lines than a conventional voiceband modem can provide. ...
line. The service was the first of its kind in
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
and the
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
.
In July 2006, Maroc Telecom signed with the
French telecommunications
Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...
equipment company
Alcatel Alcatel may refer to:
* Alcatel, a former French telecommunications equipment company, which became Alcatel-Lucent and is now part of Nokia
* Alcatel Mobile, a brand of mobile phones, tablets and wearables, formerly a joint venture between Alcatel ...
a contract for a
submarine
A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...
cable network
Networking cables are networking hardware used to connect one network device to other network devices or to connect two or more computers to share devices such as printers or scanners. Different types of network cables, such as coaxial cable, opt ...
connection between Morocco and France. Maroc Telecom's aim is to upgrade the capacity of its services (i.e.
broadband
In telecommunications, broadband is wide bandwidth data transmission which transports multiple signals at a wide range of frequencies and Internet traffic types, that enables messages to be sent simultaneously, used in fast internet connections. ...
services,
call center
A call centre ( Commonwealth spelling) or call center (American spelling; see spelling differences) is a managed capability that can be centralised or remote that is used for receiving or transmitting a large volume of enquiries by telephone. ...
s). The project cost €26 million and was named "Atlas Offshore".
In December 2006, IAM invested in
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the ...
’s
ONATEL, acquiring 51% of its capital.
''Maroc Telecom prend le contrôle d’Onatel''
- lefaso.net
See also
* Communications in Morocco The following is an outline of communications technology in Morocco.
Telecoms industry
While the Moroccan telecoms market remains under-saturated, its three mobile operators –– both at home and abroad –– have experienced robust growth in re ...
* Internet censorship in Morocco
Internet censorship in Morocco was listed as selective in the social, conflict/security, and Internet tools areas and as no evidence in the political area by the OpenNet Initiative (ONI) in August 2009.[List of telephone operating companies
This list identifies the fixed line operators and the mobile operators for the top 200 most populous countries in the world.
The list of countries and their populations is from List of countries by population. The CIA World Factbook is cited ...]
* Inwi
Inwi ( ar, إنوي) (formerly known as Wana) is a telecommunication company in Morocco. one of the three major telecom company in the country, It is a subsidiary of the group SNI and the Kuwaiti group Zain.
With more than 50 000 branches, I ...
* Meditel
Orange Maroc (or previously Médi Télécom or Méditel) is one of three major licensed telecommunications operators in Morocco. The multi-service operator offers Mobile phone, mobile, Landline, fixed-line, cybersecurity and mobile payment offer ...
References
External links
Maroc Telecom website
{{Media in Morocco , state=collapsed
Mobile phone companies of Morocco
Telecommunications companies of Morocco
Etisalat
Former Vivendi subsidiaries
Moroccan brands
1998 establishments in Morocco
Telecommunications companies established in 1998
Companies listed on Euronext Paris
Government-owned telecommunications companies
Former government-owned companies