Maroc Telecom
Encyclopedia
Maroc Telecom is the main telecommunication
Telecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of information over significant distances to communicate. In earlier times, telecommunications involved the use of visual signals, such as beacons, smoke signals, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, and optical heliographs, or audio messages via coded...

 company in Morocco.

IAM employs around 11,178 employees. It has 8 regional delegations with 220 offices present on all the territory of Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

.

IAM is controlled by Vivendi which has a 53% share of its capital. The company is listed in both Casablanca Stock Exchange
Casablanca Stock Exchange
The Casablanca Stock Exchange is a stock exchange in Casablanca, Morocco. The Casablanca Stock Exchange , which achieves one of the best performances in the region of the Middle East and North Africa , is Africa's third largest Bourse after Johannesburg Stock Exchange and Nigerian Stock Exchange...

 and Euronext Paris
Euronext Paris
Euronext Paris is France's securities market, formerly known as the Paris Bourse, which merged with the Amsterdam, Lisbon and Brussels exchanges in September 2000 to form Euronext NV, which is the second largest exchange in Europe behind the UK's London Stock Exchange...

.

On June 1, 2006, IAM launched the IPTV
IPTV
Internet Protocol television is a system through which television services are delivered using the Internet protocol suite over a packet-switched network such as the Internet, instead of being delivered through traditional terrestrial, satellite signal, and cable television formats.IPTV services...

 package deployed by Huawei Technology via the ADSL line. The service was the first of its kind in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

 and the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...

.

From postal services to telephony

The origin of IAM dates back to 1891 when King Hassan I created the first postal service of Morocco. In 1913, the Moroccan Postal Telephone and Telegraph was established before a Dahir
Dahir
A Dahir is a Moroccan King's decree.-List of Dahirs:* August 12, 1913 - Criminal proceedings* March 11, 1915 - Education * November 17, 1915 - Creation of the 5-branch Seal of Solomon Flag of Morocco....

 (King's decree
Decree
A decree is a rule of law issued by a head of state , according to certain procedures . It has the force of law...

) related to the monopole
Monopole
Monopole may refer to:*Magnetic monopole, or Dirac monopole, a hypothetical particle that may be loosely described as a magnet with only one pole, or related concepts in physics and mathematics:...

 of the state of Telegraphy
Telegraphy
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages via some form of signalling technology. Telegraphy requires messages to be converted to a code which is known to both sender and receiver...

 and Telephony
Telephony
In telecommunications, telephony encompasses the general use of equipment to provide communication over distances, specifically by connecting telephones to each other....

 was published.

Telephony

In 1967, Morocco placed the first underwater
Underwater
Underwater is a term describing the realm below the surface of water where the water exists in a natural feature such as an ocean, sea, lake, pond, or river. Three quarters of the planet Earth is covered by water...

 cable
Cable
A cable is two or more wires running side by side and bonded, twisted or braided together to form a single assembly. In mechanics cables, otherwise known as wire ropes, are used for lifting, hauling and towing or conveying force through tension. In electrical engineering cables are used to carry...

 between Tetouan
Tétouan
Tetouan is a city in northern Morocco. The Berber name means literally "the eyes" and figuratively "the water springs". Tetouan is one of the two major ports of Morocco on the Mediterranean Sea. It lies a few miles south of the Strait of Gibraltar, and about 40 mi E.S.E. of Tangier...

, Morocco and Perpignan
Perpignan
-Sport:Perpignan is a rugby stronghold: their rugby union side, USA Perpignan, is a regular competitor in the Heineken Cup and seven times champion of the Top 14 , while their rugby league side plays in the engage Super League under the name Catalans Dragons.-Culture:Since 2004, every year in the...

, France through the Mediterranean. A few years later, in 1970, a transmission via INTELSAT
Intelsat
Intelsat, Ltd. is a communications satellite services provider.Originally formed as International Telecommunications Satellite Organization , it was—from 1964 to 2001—an intergovernmental consortium owning and managing a constellation of communications satellites providing international broadcast...

 was introduced. The Telex
Telex
Telex may refer to:* Telex , , a communications network** Teleprinter, the device used on the above network* Telex , a Belgian pop group...

 service was then automated in 1971 just before the installating of a digital
Digital
A digital system is a data technology that uses discrete values. By contrast, non-digital systems use a continuous range of values to represent information...

 center in Fes
Fes
Fes or Fez is the second largest city of Morocco, after Casablanca, with a population of approximately 1 million . It is the capital of the Fès-Boulemane region....

.

Due to the advancement of Telecommunications around the globe, Morocco decided to create a new entity called ONPT (Office National des Postes et Télécommunications) to manage the industry. ONPT was responsible of the introduction of Analog Mobile Radiotelephony in 1987. Later on, in 1992, Morocco set up the first underwater optical fiber cable
Optical fiber cable
An optical fiber cable is a cable containing one or more optical fibers. The optical fiber elements are typically individually coated with plastic layers and contained in a protective tube suitable for the environment where the cable will be deployed....

. Two years later, a GSM service was operational.

Internet

The internet was introduced in Morocco by ONPT
ONPT
ONPT ONPT ONPT ONPT ONPT ONPT ONPT ONPT ONPT ( was a Moroccan state-owned-industrial and economic institution. The body was in charge of all communications and telecommunications matters of Morocco....

 in 1995.

The birth of IAM

After the publication of a telecommunications' decree, Maroc Telecom (IAM) is founded in 1998.

Land lines

It consists of the provision of public phones throughout Morocco. The fixed park reaches 1,34 million lines.

Mobile phones

Mobile service
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...

s are provided via a GSM network. Morocco Telecom counted 8,8 million customers at the end of December 2005. Its network covers 97% of the Moroccan population
Demographics of Morocco
This article is about the demographic features of the population of Morocco, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population....

.

Internet services

IAM provides over more than 9,700 kilometres of optical fiber cables. The park is around 320.000 lines. The service is commercialized under the Menara brand.

Projects and investments

In July 2006 Maroc Telecom signed with the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 telecommunications equipment company Alcatel
Alcatel
Alcatel Mobile Phones is a brand of mobile handsets. It was established in 2004 as a joint venture between Alcatel-Lucent of France and TCL Communication of China....

 a contract for a submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...

 cable network
Cable network
A cable channel is a television channel available via cable television. Such channels are usually also available via satellite television, including direct broadcast satellite providers such as DirecTV, Dish Network and BSkyB...

 connection between Morocco and France. Morocco Telecom's aim is to upgrade the capacity of its services (i.e.broadband
Broadband
The term broadband refers to a telecommunications signal or device of greater bandwidth, in some sense, than another standard or usual signal or device . Different criteria for "broad" have been applied in different contexts and at different times...

 services, call centers...). The project cost
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...

 26 million and was named "Atlas Offshore".

In December 2006, IAM invested in Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso – also known by its short-form name Burkina – is a landlocked country in west Africa. It is surrounded by six countries: Mali to the north, Niger to the east, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Côte d'Ivoire to the southwest.Its size is with an estimated...

’s ONATEL acquiring 51% of its capital.

Actual

This is one of the biggest companies in Morocco, it is a company privatized, but it already brings a best economy, comunication and other things.
This company brings more than eleven thousand employees giving to the people another option to work.

See also

  • Communications in Morocco
    Communications in Morocco
    -Telecoms industry:While the Moroccan telecoms market remains under-saturated, its three mobile operators have experienced robust growth in recent years, both at home and abroad. Meditel, which received a mobile licence in 2000, is the kingdom's first private operator, holding 36.69% of the market...

  • Internet censorship in Morocco
    Internet censorship in Morocco
    As of March 2006, Morocco had blocked access to many blogging sites, such as LiveJournal. Reporters Without Borders says that Morocco now censors all political websites advocating Western Sahara's separatism ideas. Google Earth is on the list of censored websites in Morocco, though, very briefly in...

  • List of telephone operating companies
  • Meditel
    Méditel
    Méditel is one of three licensed telecommunications operators in Morocco. Its headquarters is based in Casablanca.Méditel obtained the second license of mobile telephony in Morocco in 1999...


External links

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