Morocco’s three mobile network operators have all won 4G licences in a contest that raised upwards of 2 billion dirhams for the state.
The country’s telecoms regulator on Wednesday announced that it has assessed applications from Maroc Telecom, Meditel and Wana Corporate, which operates as Inwi, and awarded 4G licences to all three.
Together the operators will pay MAD2.003 billion dirhams (€187 million) for their licences, L’Agence Nationale de Réglementation des Télécommunications (ANRT) said. They will also have to contribute MAD860.4 million to the cost of spectrum refarming.
Maroc Telecom agreed to pay the most for its licence with a bid of MAD1 billion, double the offers made by its smaller rivals.
The country’s smallest player Inwi – which had a 27.9% share of the market at the end of last year, according to the regulator, won a licence for MAD503 million, while Meditel agreed to pay MAD500.4 million.
"The three applicants submitted high quality bids including investment commitments to contribute to the development of the national telecommunications infrastructure," the ANRT said, in a statement.
Specifically, the telcos made coverage commitments for the first five years that exceed the minimum requirement of the competition, the regulator said.
They also laid out quality of service parameters that are aligned with international best practice, and their business plans will contribute to the development of the mobile broadband market in Morocco, ANRT added.
