A new round has started in the trial of strength between the historical telecommunications operator Maroc Telecom and the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (ANRT) on the unbundling of the optic fibre loop. The 15^th October 2015 deadline given to Maroc Telecom by the telecom authority to publish its wholesale offer to the competition has come and gone. Maroc Telecom, once again, through another violation of the injunction from ANRT, displayed its opposition to the unbundling of the optic fibre imposed by the telecom authority.

Since January 2015, ANRT has been battling with the national telecommunications operator to have it allow mobile operators access to the optic fibre. Through this access, the telecom authority wants to create a free and fair competition in the national telecom sector by giving all players equal opportunities. The historical operator would rent the access to the optic fibre infrastructure to the mobile operators, who would not have to spend huge amounts to install their own optic fibre network which would take time to be set up, and would therefore be able to provide services of higher quality to consumers, the ultimate beneficiaries of this free competition.

Unfortunately, Maroc Telecom is not ready to cooperate. During the presentation of the financial results of the group on 23^rd February 2015, Abdelslam Ahizoune, president of the Board of Directors of the company, estimated that unbundling would be detrimental to the investment the country needs to improve its infrastructure. Refusing that Méditel, subsidiary of Orange and Inwi benefit from the optic fibre broadband network in which Maroc Telecom has invested throughout the years, Abdelslam Ahizoune revealed his annoyance when he declared that “Orange is massively investing in France. It would be good for them to do the same in Morocco. When one is a giant like Orange, it is important to contribute to investments in the country where one operates”.