(Ecofin Agency) - In its recent evaluation of online public services, the Moroccan court of auditors estimated that Maroc Telecom’s monopoly over the ADSL was greatly affecting the development of online services.  

Due to a lack of competition, this market segment grew by 20% only within 18 years. From 1999 to 2017, the number of subscribers to fixed internet rose from 1.5 million to 1.8 million only.

According to the court, large data usually transit via fixed networks in developed countries. They are also the "adequate and prefered network for public institutions as well as middle and large private corporations.” In that regard, those countries continually improve their large band infrastructures via namely the installation of optical fiber, the court adds.

Due also to the incumbent operator’s refusal to open up as the communication regulator required, the market of leased lines has not grown. Yet, these lines are necessary for the improvement of large data services companies and administrations’ online offers.

The court informs that compared with the European Union’s standard, out of 15 important online services, Morocco records an average of 8 services notably related to taxes and duties. The other seven services are far behind the average. Those services are for personal records, car registration, company registration and firms’ data transmission to the national office for statistics.

In 2014, Morocco reached its highest score in the UN E-government index going from being the 115th in 2008 to the 30th that year out of 193 countries. In 2018, it lost places to be the 78th.  In the human capital and IT infrastructures composites of that index, Morocco remained at the bottom of the world ranking.