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Morocco

5G regulation and law in Morocco

Table of contents
  1. What is the state of 5G deployment in your country?
  2. Are telecoms companies monetising 5G investments - or are the services provided to consumers at similar prices to 4G? 
  3. Has 5G been launched for industrial purposes? For which sectors?
  4. What is being done to ensure that a wide range of operators and industrial companies, from small to large, have access to frequencies?
  5. What public tenders have awarded spectrum licences? 
    1. What were the criteria for awarding each of the tenders?
    2. What are the conditions of the spectrum licence? 
    3. What is the price and how is it calculated?
  6. Is there a long-term spectrum plan or announcements for future tenders? 
  7. If 5G specific rules are drafted, what do they say?
  8. What focused 5G network or spectrum sharing regulation exists?
  9. Are 5G network sharing or spectrum sharing agreements in place? 
  10. What are or will be the rules for granting competitors access to new 5G networks once they are deployed?
  11. What comments have been made regarding 5G cyber-security and possible use of Chinese technology, including regulation?
  12.  What comments have been made regarding 5G cyber-security and possible use of Chinese technology, including regulation?
Morocco
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1. What is the state of 5G deployment in your country?

The general guidelines note for the development of the telecom sector adopted by the National Agency for Telecommunications Regulation (ANRT) in 2019, specified the launch of 5G in Morocco in 2023. 

Morocco is still in the evaluation, testing and trial stage of 5G, leaving the launch postponed to a later date.

2. Are telecoms companies monetising 5G investments - or are the services provided to consumers at similar prices to 4G? 

The 3 Moroccan operators, Maroc Telecom, Orange and Inwi, are on the lookout, and have developed preliminary 5G technology.

They have set up frequency bands that can be used for 5G deployment, but it is up to the ANRT to approve these bands for formal use.

3. Has 5G been launched for industrial purposes? For which sectors?

N/A

4. What is being done to ensure that a wide range of operators and industrial companies, from small to large, have access to frequencies?

Currently, the main big Moroccan corporations "ONCF, OCP, transport companies, MANAGEM, Marsa Maroc, airports, ... are invited to make studies to set up use cases. That is, how to implement this advanced technology in well-defined use cases to improve the quality of work performance.

5. What public tenders have awarded spectrum licences? 

N/A

5.1 What were the criteria for awarding each of the tenders?

N/A

5.2 What are the conditions of the spectrum licence? 

N/A

5.3 What is the price and how is it calculated?

N/A

6. Is there a long-term spectrum plan or announcements for future tenders? 

Studies are currently being conducted to propose the conditions and modalities for operating 5G networks in the Kingdom in order to identify and prepare the target frequency spectrum rearrangement schemes. As 4G took 10 years, the construction of the 5G network in Morocco could take years for a widespread deployment throughout the country.

7. If 5G specific rules are drafted, what do they say?

No rules have been published, and no tender has been opened. 

8. What focused 5G network or spectrum sharing regulation exists?

N/A

9. Are 5G network sharing or spectrum sharing agreements in place? 

N/A

10. What are or will be the rules for granting competitors access to new 5G networks once they are deployed?

No 5G network sharing agreement is in place yet

11. What comments have been made regarding 5G cyber-security and possible use of Chinese technology, including regulation?

The ANRT has specified that a study on 5G is part of the planned program of consultations scheduled for 2021, a delay of 2 years, compared to the projection of the note.

The study on 5G will detail the quality criteria to be met by operators and the obligations attached to the deployment of networks concerned, the conclusions of this study should be included in the future regulation of the call for competition.

In the meantime, the effective deployment of 5G is only expected for 2024 or 2025.

12. What comments have been made regarding 5G cyber-security and possible use of Chinese technology, including regulation?

The Moroccan government has not given any information about the 5G cybersecurity, it will only be launched once the regulator decides to allocate licenses.

Authors

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Portrait ofRachida Charifi
Rachida Charifi
Conseil juridique senior - Head of corporate
Casablanca