Akhannouch: Akhannouch, who chaired the National Telecommunications Regulatory Agency (ANRT) Board of Directors, emphasized that despite the results achieved and the efforts deployed by the Agency and national operators, the comprehensive coverage of all the Kingdom’s regions, mainly mountainous regions, has become a pressing need which cannot be postponed or put on hold.
According to Agence Marocaine De Presse, he stressed the need to mobilize all resources and focus firmly on addressing this issue, which is of concern to citizens in several regions of the country, assuring that the government is willing to support the ANRT in achieving comprehensive and efficient coverage that will help reduce the digital divide. He also called on the Agency to identify areas without coverage, in coordination with the relevant ministerial departments, in order to provide high-quality telecom services that meet the needs of the populations in these areas as soon as possible.
In this regard, the government chief recalled th
at Morocco, aware of the vital importance of the digital transition and the opportunities it offers for socio-economic development, has committed itself, under the enlightened leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, to a comprehensive and integrated digital transition process, in line with global technological developments, capable of contributing to socio-economic and digital inclusion, through the adoption of the national strategy ‘Morocco Digital 2030.’
He emphasized that the development of the telecom sector is one of the pillars of the success of the digital transition and represents an incentive to accelerate digitization in various sectors, as well as a prerequisite for the success of the dedicated national strategy. He added that Morocco has deliberately chosen to make the telecom sector a driver of national development and an essential milestone in improving economic and spatial development indicators, supporting sectoral competitiveness, creating employment opportunities, and reducing digital a
nd spatial disparities.
In this context, he expressed his pride in the significant improvement in coverage indicators and access rates to telecommunications services, particularly in the mobile telephony sector, which has 57 million subscribers, and in the internet sector, with nearly 40 million users. He believes that these positive results have enabled the Kingdom to top the African rankings of the International Telecommunication Union, according to the Information and Communication Technology Development Index (IDI).
Akhannouch added that Morocco is gearing up to organize several large sporting events, mainly the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2030 World Cup, which requires the country to be at the required level and make available all necessary resources to successfully host these events, particularly in telecom and internet. In this regard, he assured that the government, in coordination with all relevant parties, is working to mobilize all necessary resources to support the structural projects alr
eady launched, particularly the expansion of broadband internet coverage and fiber optic networks, specifying that it is planned to connect nearly 5.2 million households by 2030, in addition to deploying 5G technology, for which a call for tenders has been launched, which will enable coverage of several cities.
The Head of Government also praised the major role played by operators in this sector, who spare no effort in its development.