At the end of the government council held on 22 October 2015 under the chairmanship of the Chief of government, Abdelilah Benkirane, it appears that three types of telecoms licence via satellite, including the call for tenders launched on 16 March 2015 by the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (ANRT) of Morocco, have been awarded.

For the VSAT licence (Very Small Aperture Terminal) enabling internet through satellite, the selected companies are: the historical telecommunications operator “Ittisalat Al Maghrib SA”, better known as Maroc Telecom, Société d’Aménagement et de Développement Vert (SAMV) and mobile operator “Wana Corporate SA” better known as Inwi.

The minister of Communication, spokesperson for the government, Mustapha El Khalfi (photo) explained that the specifications bill set the validity of the licences to 10 years, with the possibility of renewing the licence for periods no longer than 5 years each. Maroc Telecom, SAMV and Inwi must put on the market VSAT type services in a maximum period of 12 months starting from the date the licences come into force for an amount of 19 million Dirhams (USD 1.97 million excluding taxes.

On the subject of licences giving authorisation to establish and operate shared resources radio-electric telecommunications networks (3RP), they were awarded to “Cires Telecom SA” and SAMV. The specifications bill set the validity of these licences to 10 years, with the possibility of renewing the licence for periods not exceeding 5 years each. The selected companies must start marketing 3RP services within 12 months of the licences coming into force for an amount of 600,000 Dirhams (USD 61,260) excluding taxes.

The five decree bills making official the awarding of these new telecoms licences through satellite are being drafted. No licence was awarded for the GMPCS technology (Global Mobile Personal Communications System), which is about mobile telephone communications through satellite.