Moroccan fixed, mobile internet users up 15 percent in Q2

Telecompaper - News

Morocco added 128,222 internet subscribers in the second quarter, for 15 percent quarterly growth to 834,463 at the end of June and 47.29 percent growth versus June 2008, according to telecommunications regulator ANRT. Of the total internet customers, 50.75 percent are on ADSL and 48.7 percent are on 3G mobile networks. ADSL subscribers were static at 488,567 at the end of June, compared to 489,043 at the end of March. Maroc Telecom has a 98.86 percent share of the country's ADSL subscribers, followed by Wana with 0.78 percent. Mobile 3G internet users grew by 38.16 percent to 468,781 at the end of June (195.07 percent growth vs June 2008). Wana has a 63.4 percent share of the 3G internet market, followed by Medi Telecom with 18.38 percent and Maroc Telecom with 18.21 percent. Morocco's fixed telephony market rose by 5.64 percent in Q2 to 3.27 million at the end of June, including 1.96 million on fixed wireless. Fixed line penetration stood at 10.48 percent, up from 9.92 percent three months earlier. Wana has a 60.27 percent share of the fixed telephony market, followed by Maroc Telecom (39.48%) and Medi Telecom (0.25%). Residential fixed telephony customers rose by 6.44 percent to 2.72 million and business fixed telephony customers by 1.78 percent to 387,512. Morocco's mobile telephony market was static at 23.534 million at the end of June, compared to 23.516 million at the end of March. Maroc Telecom lost market share to rivals Medi Telecom and Wana, but still retains a 60.71 share of mobile customers, ahead of Medi (36.69%) and Wana (2.6%). Specifically, Maroc Telecom's mobile customer base fell by 2.34 percent in the quarter to 14.29 million, whereas Meditel's rose by 3.21 percent to 8.63 million and Wana's by 17.47 percent to 521,000. Some 95.8 percent of the country's mobile customers are on prepaid.