Morocco reached 24.5 million mobile internet subscriptions at the end of September, up 8.8 percent year-on-year, according to the latest quarterly report from telecom regulator ANRT. Including fixed broadband connections, the country’s overall internet base increased by 9.0 percent to 26.2 million. This takes the internet penetration rate to 73.6 percent.
Morocco’s three mobile networks closed the quarter with a combined mobile telephony base of 47.5 million, up by 3.2 percent year-on-year. Postpaid customers continued to rise at a steady pace (+21.5%), accounting for 9.4 percent of total mobile connections.
LTE subscriptions remained on a strong upward trend (+48.8%), reaching 13.4 million at end September or 55 percent of the mobile internet base.
In the fixed broadband segment, ADSL customers rose 4.7 percent to 1.5 million, while the number of FTTP lines increased to 105,000.
Maroc Telecom retained a strong lead over rivals in the internet segment, accounting for 53.0 percent of combined fixed and mobile internet connections (down from 53.7% in Q2). Orange Morocco saw its market share increase by 0.6 percentage points since Q2 to 22.6 percent, while Inwi remains broadly stable at 24.4 percent.
Looking at the overall mobile market, Maroc Telecom held 42.6 percent of total mobile connections (down from 43.2 percent in Q2). Its rivals Orange Morocco and Inwi both gained ground marginally, ending September with a market share of 34.7 and 22.7 percent respectively.